50 Days of White Rose
by IceCreamProphet
Summary: Inspired by a 50 day writing challenge I saw on Tumblr, I decided to write 50 short drabble fics on each day's prompt that focused on the OTP of OTPs, White Rose. Some are sweet, some are lewd, some are dramatic, but they are all White Rose.
1. It's really not that complicated

Weiss sighed in frustration as her digital avatar on the big screen was blown to bloody bits by a plasma rocket.

"This game is childish and juvenile," she snorted with irritation.

Ruby playfully rolled her silver eyes and paused her controller, scooting closer to Weiss on the plush couch in Schnee Manor's living room.

"It's really not that complicated, Snowflake," Ruby said. "The story is simple…you're the Master Chef, the most powerful space marine slash space chef in the entire galaxy! It's your job to protect the Crown of Light from the Clergy, the evil space aliens who want to steal all of your secret herbs and spices."

"But that's exactly my point!" Weiss countered, throwing her hands up in the air in frustration. "Why in the world would they need a genetically engineered 'super chef' who has a laser-tipped spatula!?"

"Because the spatula was a gift from his father who is really his brother from the future!" Ruby shot back. "It makes perfect sense once you read the lore!"

"It's still childish," Weiss said defiantly. Ruby sighed and thought for a minute before her face lit up.

"Okay, how about this - we'll start a new game on easy mode, right? And for every kill you make, I'll give you a smooch."

"You would combine physical affection with a video game," Weiss smirked. "Very well. I accept your challenge and I shall hold you to it."

Ruby fist pumped in celebration and restarted the console, booting up the game as the familiar chanting signified the game's menu was loading. Weiss' ice blue eyes furrowed in concentration and she mashed the START button, ready to begin her quest for galactic salvation and smooches from her Dolt.

About an hour and a dozen or so restarts later, Weiss and Ruby had quickly forgotten about the game and instead were caught in a passionate embrace on the couch. Ruby was straddling Weiss, planting soft kisses and nibbles up and down her wife's neck when her Scroll rang.

"Don't answer it…" Weiss moaned breathlessly.

"I have to…it's Yang. What if it's an emergency?"

"Is anything more important than this?"

"…good point." Ruby conceded. Not one to hang up, however, she quickly answered the phone. "Hey sis, sorry can't talk right now. Playing video games with Weiss and I just made it to the bonus level. Love ya, bye!" and with a press of a button, disconnected the call and reconnected her lips against Weiss'.


	2. Close the door

"Ruby, could you please close the door?" Weiss asked. It was late at night and both young women were headed to bed for the night. Weiss had to resume her day to day activities at running the SDC and Ruby was to go on a hunt with Nora to track down sightings of a large Ursa that had been spotted several miles away.

"Huh? You never close the door…" Ruby said, sliding her PJ tank top over her head and yanking it down. "We always sleep with the door open."

"Yes, well…I think it would be beneficial if we closed it." Weiss said matter-of-factly. Ruby was still curious as to what the exact issue was, as something about Weiss' body language was giving her vibes of unease.

"I mean, I can shut it, but you always complain how stuffy it gets here and you like the breeze coming down the hallway, sooo…." Ruby trailed off, sitting on the edge of their queen sized bed. Weiss crossed her arms over her chest, an act of defiance that would have fooled anyone except someone who has known her as long as Ruby has. "Wait a minute, this wouldn't have anything to do with the movie we watched earlier, would it?"

Weiss' face suddenly went pale as a shocked look washed over her delicate features.

"What? No! Don't be preposterous, you dolt. I have no problems with that terribly acted excuse for a cinematic travesty we watched earlier." she protested. But Ruby could see the truth and she was like a shark that could smell blood in the water.

"Well, well, well…Weiss Schnee-Rose, CEO of the SDC, legendary huntress and more is scared of '_Mr. Stabbyhands_'! Wait till your sister hears about this." Ruby said, snorting with laughter. "I can't believe you want the door closed because you're afraid _Mr. Stabbyhands_ will come for you!"

"I am not afraid of _Mr. Stabbyhands_!" Weiss shot back, her ice blue eyes glimmering with fierce intent. "I merely wish to keep the room at an adequate temperature, that's all."

Ruby was giggling with barely restrained glee as she slid into bed next to Weiss and pulled her side of the blankets up to her neck.

"Okay Weiss, you're not scared of _Mr. Stabbyhands_, nope, no way, no how. But it just so happens, I actually have '_Mr. Stabbyhands II - Stab Harder_' downloaded! We can watch that tomorrow if you want?"

"NO! I mean-, no, that is not necessary." Weiss stumbled, regaining her pomp composure. "I think there's a documentary on that we can watch instead. Educational and informative."

"Oh yeah?" Ruby grinned, leaning closer. "What's it about?"

"It's…it's…about cheese! Yes, cheese. All about cheese. You know how much I love cheese, Ruby."

Ruby snickered again and curled next to Weiss on the bed. Zwei was already rolled into a neat little tail-to-nose ball and happily snoring at the foot of the bed.

"It's okay, Weiss. Your wife will protect you from the big, bad _Mr. Stabbyhands_." Ruby said with a yawn, closing her eyes. Weiss sighed and shut the light off, wiggling her arm under Ruby's head to give her Dolt her favorite snuggling position. A few minutes passed in the calm quiet of the master bedroom before Weiss spoke.

"You tell anyone about this and you are sleeping in the pool house for a month."


	3. It's three in the morning

It was 3 in the morning and Ruby's plan was ready to take form. She had waited till Weiss was asleep and then waited even further to make sure she didn't stir. Carefully, the silver eyed Huntress untangled herself from Weiss' arms and gently peeled back the blankets that comforted the both of them. Zwei briefly looked up, licking his chops at this disturbance, but Ruby was there to lull him back to sleep with head scratches. Once her faithful dog was down for the night, Ruby sighed in relief and gingerly slung her legs over the bed and slid her feet into her fluffy Beowulf slippers.

Ruby had barely taken a step before the wood boards of the master bedroom creaked and groaned, sending a panic attack of raw nerves up and down her spine. Quickly she glanced over to the bed to make sure Weiss was still asleep and thankfully she was still lost in slumber, her white hair pooled around her head like a halo of snow. Ruby mentally chewed herself out for forgetting the 'sneaking technique' that Blake had taught her. It involved something complicated, like shifting the weight on your feet while walking and of course she had forgotten most of it.

Tip toe after tip toe, Ruby made the long and arduous walk out the bedroom, trying her best not to alert Weiss who was still sleeping softly. The door felt like a million miles away, but each step had to be precise in it's location and execution. Finally, after what seemed like an endless hike, Ruby made it to the door and felt the initial stress wash over her. She hated sneaking like this behind Weiss' back, but she had to know! It was Ruby's birthday and when Weiss had come home the day before with a large box wrapped in gold paper, Ruby's eyes lit up.

"Oooh! For me? Whatcha get me?" she asked, bouncing on her heels like an excited toddler about to get their favorite snack. Weiss merely rolled her eyes and yanked the box away from her wife's expectant hands.

"You will find out. Tomorrow. When it's your actual birthday." she said simply. Ruby gave a playful frown and tried her best puppy dog eyes to sway Weiss into her favor, but the SDC CEO was not to be persuaded. "No, not going to work this time. I always wind up giving you your gift early and then I have nothing to show at the party. You'll have to wait."

And so the plan was put into motion - she would wait till Weiss was asleep and then sneak downstairs to Weiss' home office and open the box for herself. She had to know and the suspense was killing her.

The main hall of Schnee Manor was a bit spooky at this time of night. There wasn't a cloud in the sky so bright moonlight cast odd shadows throughout and the antique oil paintings of the Schnee ancestors seemed to look down at her with barely contained disgust. A shiver ran over Ruby's skin at the thought there might be Schnee Ghosts who were watching her at every moment, but she pushed that out of her head before it took root.

Down the stairs she went, using just the front of her feet and not putting her heels on the carpeted wood. She finally made it down the stairs and almost slipped on the smooth marble floor, her fuzzy slippers having trouble getting traction on the immaculately polished stone. Kicking them off, she shivered again as the cold from the stone floor tickled her feet and gave her a slight chill.

Turning left, she nearly bumped into a large statue of Weiss' grandfather, Nicholas Schnee, that sat at the base of the stairs. Ruby could only imagine the fury that would have resulted if she had knocked that off its perch and broke it.

The walls were basked in deep shadow, a stark contrast to the brilliant highlights of the moon glow. so Ruby felt along the walls till she found the brass doorknob and gently twisted it, the office door opening with a soft click. The office had been Jacques' before his "tragic" death from an accidental overdose of male enhancement pills and Mistralian whiskey. When Weiss had moved back in to the Manor, the office reeked of cigar smoke and expensive booze. Now it had a more feminine touch, with the hunting trophies and bottles of whiskey all moved to storage. A large vase of edelweiss flowers sat in perfect bloom behind the desk, giving the room an airy, floral smell that was a lot more pleasing than the stagnant masculine funk of before.

The bookshelves were now decorated with various nick-knacks from throughout Weiss' life: pictures of their wedding, pictures from Yang and Blake's wedding, postcards from Nora and Ren, her first Huntress license, pictures from the days at Beacon, all of it gave the room a much more welcoming vibe. But Ruby knew exactly where to go and cautiously moved the large globe of Remnant from behind the desk and slid back the faux wood paneling to reveal Weiss' safe. The combination was easy, Ruby just tapped in their wedding anniversary, as it was Weiss' same password for anything. The safe hissed and the heavy iron door swung open, the box's foil wrapping seemingly glittering on its own.

"Heh, jackpot!" Ruby whispered to herself, licking her lips in excitement. Her nimble fingers pulled apart the tape from the seams of the wrapping paper, careful not to disturb it too much or even tear it. When the paper was unfolded enough for access, Ruby gently lifted off the lid, practically salivating at what could be inside. But before she had time to even peek inside, a flash of brilliant light exploded from inside the box, startling Ruby and sending her reeling backward. Losing her balance on the marble floor of the office, she fell unceremoniously on her butt with a loud "OOMPH!" as the lights flicked on.

Weiss was standing in the doorway in her nightgown, her arms crossed over her chest, a smug grin plastered on her face.

"I knew you couldn't wait," she said, walking towards the safe.

"Weiss, wait, I can explain!" Ruby protested, rubbing her sore butt as she stood up. Weiss held up a finger as a request for silence.

"Your actual gift is with Blake and Yang, as I knew they could keep it from you. This was merely a distraction and a test, of which you failed spectacularly. But no worries, you won't go to bed empty-handed." Weiss said. Reaching into the box, she pulled out a large camera and pulled the photo from the slot near the bottom. Soon the picture began to develop and take form, showing a perfectly captured image of a wide-eyed and panicked Ruby as she was spooked from the camera flash. Reaching back into the box, Weiss produced a picture frame that the embarrassing photograph was neatly slid into, before handing it all over to Ruby. "Happy birthday," Weiss said with a chuckle, giving Ruby a chaste kiss on the cheek. Ruby flipped the frame over, noticing letters had been meticulously carved in the amber-hued wood.

"I AM A HUGE DOLT WHO CAN'T WAIT TILL MY PARTY…" Ruby read aloud, blushing a bit. "Thanks," she added with bitter sarcasm. "I'll cherish it always."

"Of course you will," Weiss said, taking Ruby's hand in her own. "Now come, back to bed. Sleep beckons us."


	4. I should have told you a long time ago

"I should have told you a long time ago…" Ruby said quietly, unable to make eye contact with Weiss. Both Huntresses sat together on a bench in a snowy park in downtown Atlas. It was awkward, with unease and strong emotions hanging thick in the air, seemingly blending in with the gently falling snowflakes. The whole situation had come about when Weiss had overheard Yang teasing Ruby about having feelings for the former heiress.

"Take it from me, sis," Yang had said, "It's better to get this stuff out in the open."

"You've officially had a girlfriend for like 10 minutes and now you're the relationship expert." Ruby snorted with irritation. Yang chuckled and gave her younger sister a mighty hug.

"I'm speaking from experience. Thankfully it wasn't too late for Blake and me, but don't take that chance with Weiss. Tell her how you feel." she said. Afterward, Weiss had asked Ruby to take a walk with her to the park where they currently sat on a weathered bench under a snow-covered tree. The entire park felt like an endless void to Ruby and at that moment, she felt so incredibly small. Weiss hadn't yelled her or seemed angry, but it still made Ruby feel at unease to have her big secret out in the open like this.

"When did you first have these feelings?" Weiss said softly, staring straight ahead. Ruby sighed and pulled the hood of her cloak up higher amongst her face, trying to block out everything.

"I…I can't tell you when exactly it started, it was just kinda there, you know? I mean, at first, that day at Beacon, I honestly just wanted to be your friend. I didn't know anyone there besides Yang and so I thought you would be a cool person to hang out with." she said. Weiss nodded ever so slightly.

"Quite the first impression too, exploding like that."

"Heh, yeah, I always know how to make an entrance…"

"But back to the topic at hand, what was the earliest you can remember having these feelings?"

Ruby sighed again and groaned in irritation. She'd rather be anywhere than this, literally anywhere. Fighting Grimm she understood, modifying weapons she understood, video games she understood, but relationships? Nope. Never even kissed a boy, let alone had feelings for another girl.

"I guess probably the food fight? When you got blasted and I caught you, I remember thinking how pretty you looked-"

"While I was knocked unconscious?!" Weiss interjected.

"No-I mean, YES! It…it looked you were sleeping!" Ruby whined, feeling the conversation getting away from her. "You looked so peaceful, like a princess out of a storybook. I didn't know what it was at the time, but looking back…maybe that's when I first had these feelings."

"I see." was all Weiss said, her hands neatly folded in her lap. "Is there anything else you wish to add?"

"I'm…sorry, I guess…" Ruby said, her voice trailing off. "I know this probably complicates things between us and things may get weird going forward and I'm sorry. Yang and Blake have at least themselves and that's cool and awesome but I really wanted us to be a team but if me liking you ruins that, then maybe JNR might take you in or-"

Ruby was cut off by Weiss suddenly reaching over and taking Ruby's hand in her own and squeezing it tightly. She didn't look at Ruby but still kept her eyes focused ahead as if she was staring at some invisible target.

"When I was young, maybe around six or seven, I had a friend who would come to visit named Persephone. We would run around Schnee Manor with plastic swords or have tea parties or ride ponies on my private trail. She was my best friend, or so I thought. One night while going downstairs to ask for a glass of water, I saw my Fath-, I mean, Jacques paying her parents several large stacks of Lien…" Weiss said sadly.

"Wait, he was paying people to be your friend?!" said Ruby, anger flaring in her silver eyes.

"More or less. I really had no friends as I was never allowed to leave the Manor. I was told it was to protect me from the White Fang, but in truth, I think it was just another form of control. When I began to get bored, Jacques paid some of his colleagues to let me play with their daughter. I became upset and made a public display of it and I never saw Persephone again."

Without even realizing she was doing it, Ruby squeezes Weiss' hand in her own. For the first time since they sat down at the bench, the two girls met eye to eye and Ruby could see the barely restrained hurt in Weiss' face.

"And the day I first met you, I thought that's partly why you wanted to be my 'BFF' so badly. As if you saw the Schnee name attached and thought I would be a piggy-bank to expensive gifts and lush vacations. But as time went on, I saw such…honesty in you. You didn't care who my father was or what my name is, you just wanted to be my friend."

"I still do…" Ruby said quietly. "…if you'll still have me."

"Ruby Rose, you are childish, impulsive and a huge dolt, but you are so full of life and love and your presence is intoxicating to me," Weiss gushed. "I see now what a good thing I have with you and how we complete each other…"

Ruby felt her heart rise up in her throat, adrenaline pumping in her veins like water bursting forth from a dam. Weiss was sitting so close to her, she could smell her (probably expensive) perfume and see the snowflakes as they melted against her skin.

"Weiss, are you saying what I think you're saying?" Ruby asked incredulously, the tempo in her voice getting higher and higher. Weiss' face was burning with a dark shade of crimson, but she managed to smile and nod.

"Yes. I would be honored to be your girlfriend, Ruby Rose."


	5. Why are you helping me?

"UGH! This is pointless!" Ruby groaned in frustration, throwing her pencil down on the work desk in the RWBY dorm. She sighed and plopped her head down, moaning in aggravation. "I don't understand why they expect us to know this kinda stuff! It's a Friday night, I should be out at the movies but I'm stuck here studying!"

"And who decided not to study for their Advanced Dust Theory class, hmm?" Weiss asked pointedly. "You're lucky Oobleck is letting you retake the test. Honestly, it's a second chance you really don't deserve." Unlike Ruby who was still in a disheveled school uniform, Weiss was already in her PJs, her snow-white hair framing her face in perfect formation after her nightly rigorous brushing ritual.

"I didn't study because it's stupid!" Ruby whined. "We should be out in the woods hunting Grimm and kicking butt, not doing boring math equations. I don't need to know any of this stuff to be a good Huntress."

Weiss huffed at this and finished writing down in her diary, slamming it shut and snapping the lock shut with a twist of her key.

"Is that so? You really feel like this knowledge is beneath you?" she said, her eyebrow arched. Ruby crossed her arms over chest and tilted her head high in false bravado.

"In-dude-ab-ly," she said. Weiss rolled her eyes.

"First, it's pronounced '_indubitably_' and second, this is very much something you need to know, Ruby. Whether you like it or not, knowing dust inside and out is just as powerful as knowing where to strike a Beowolf or a Borbatusk for maximum damage."

"Of course you would say that," Ruby protested. "You're a Schnee! Dust to you is like…I dunno, cookies to me."

"If I ever eat dust like the way you eat cookies, please do me a favor and use Crescent Rose to put me out of my misery." Weiss snapped back. "Let me ask you, Ms. Know-It-All - suppose you're out on a hunt and a Borbatusk gashes your thigh? What do you do?"

"That's easy, I use my Medkit to close the wound so my aura can heal it," Ruby replied matter-of-factually.

"That is correct, but suppose you don't have a Medkit, what then? Did you know you can use fire dust to cauterize the wound and ice dust to help numb the pain?"

"I….did not know that."

"And let's say your sister is being attacked by an Alpha Grimm and you're over a hundred yards away. What kind of dust round do you use with your sniper scythe? Keep in mind, use too much dust and the round may cause some splash damage and hurt Yang. But if you use too little, the Grimm will not be stopped. How do you calculate the exact amount of dust needed?"

Ruby's cheeks flushed hot with embarrassment as Weiss had essentially torn her argument to shreds.

"Okay, okay, so maybe I do need to study dust math stuff a bit more. I just wish it wasn't so hard!"

"It's only hard because you're giving up before you even try! Here, scoot over on that chair and let me help you." Weiss fussed, pushing Ruby over halfway on the desk chair without bothering to hear a reply. "Class is now in session and Professor Weiss will help you." Weiss shuffled through Ruby's haphazard pile of loose leaf notebook paper, crumbled up wads of notes and a half-eaten peanut butter and cookie dough sandwich. "Is this a crude caricature of Oobleck?" she said. Ruby gave her a nervous laugh.

"Yeah…the red ink lines show that he's extra stinky…." she replied sheepishly. Weiss sighed and massaged her temples, fighting off a stress headache.

"This is going to be harder than I thought. Okay, let's start from the top, shall we? Let's say that you're one hundred and fifty yards away from an adult Ursa. Now, if the wind is blowing southeast at four miles an hour, how do you-"

"Why are you helping me?" Ruby suddenly interrupted.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Why are you helping me? It's late, you could be sleeping or even out on a movie with Blake and Yang."

"You mean '_Night of the Revenge of the Bride of the Zombie Queen in 3-D_'? As if I'd debase myself with such cinema waste. And besides, I feel like Blake and Yang would want their privacy."

"It's in 4-D, actually. The fourth dimension is Smell-O-Vision!" Ruby said. Weiss rolled her eyes again.

"Ah yes, who could forget the cinematic tour de force of Smell-O-Vision," she said with bitter sarcasm.

"But that still doesn't answer my question…why are you helping me?"

"Contrary to my 'Ice Queen' reputation, I actually do care about people, especially my teammates," Weiss stated. "And, despite all common sense, you are my team leader so how you perform reflects on the rest of us."

"I'm not the worst team leader!" Ruby said in protest. "There's Jaune."

"The same Jaune who managed to squeak by with a D- on his test, so yes, right now, he is a better team leader than you," Weiss said. Ruby visibly deflated and sank a bit in her chair.

"I'm just the worst…" she sighed in defeat. Weiss snapped to attention and lifted Ruby's sulking chin with her index and middle finger.

"Ruby Rose! Look at me. _Look. At. Me._ You are not the worst, far from it. You have the potential to be a great Huntress, but that's the keyword - potential. Whether you unlock that potential is up to you and you alone. You said your Mother was a great Huntress, right? I guarantee you she worked for everything she earned, so did your Father. Both your sister and Blake studied hard for their test and now they are reaping the rewards by killing their brain cells with fake blood and rubber monster suits."

Ruby was painfully aware of how close Weiss was to her. Her crystal blue eyes seem to pierce right into Ruby's very soul, like two perfectly frozen lakes of the purest water. She could faintly smell the potpourri perfume she wore on a day to day basis and see the sharp, yet alluring features of her stern, but loving face. Ruby was also painfully aware that she was now sweating badly and had no idea why.

"I'll tell you what, let me sweeten the offer for you. If you can pass the makeup test with a B or higher, I'll treat you to coffee and by that, I mean _real _coffee, with roasted Mistralian beans and not the overly caffeinated instant powder that Nora keeps pawning off on you."

"It's a deal!" Ruby said, cheering up.

"Now, let's continue, shall we? So if X represents the Ursa and Y is your sister, we can determine that X plus Y equals the threat level which directly correlates with the level of dust you will need…"

**THE NEXT DAY**

"Congratulations, Ms. Rose. You have turned your F into an A-! " Professor Oobleck said, frantically waving the paper in Ruby's face. "Your achievements today are noteworthy and you should be proud!"

Ruby jumped for joy, clapping her hands in excitement and bouncing in place like a hyperactive whack-a-mole. The class had just dismissed for the day and Weiss had stuck around to see if her late-night tutoring had paid off.

"Kick-butt!" Ruby said, driving the point home with a fist pump, "An A for Awesome!"

"See what I mean?" Weiss said, placing a reassuring hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Potential. You have it, you just need to keep working towards unlocking it."

"Thanks, BFF! You are the best teacher ever!"

"Best teacher, yes. BFF, no." Weiss countered, but Ruby was not swayed, yelling for joy as she walked down the hallway. "Outta the way, folks! My BFF and I are going out for coffee!"

As Weiss chased after Ruby down the hallways of Beacon, frantically protesting she was not, in fact, Ruby's BFF, Yang and Blake stood near the opposite end watching everything unfold. Yang had a smirk on her face.

"Should we tell them how obvious they are?" Blake asked, watching the two bicker over Weiss' BFF status.

"Naw, let them figure it out on their own. One day they'll realize how perfect they are for each other. One day."


	6. You have to leave right now

The headlights of Weiss' expensive sports car cut through the darkness as she pulled up the twisting driveway of Schnee Manor. It had been an incredibly long day at the office and she was looking forward to nothing more than pizza, wine and maybe a bubble bath to help ease her frayed nerves. The tech geeks down in the lab and had found a way to synthesize electrical dust that would yield twice the output and last twice as long. The implications would be incredible, but more testing was needed, which meant more funding, which meant more meetings and more frustrated investors. She sighed and sipped her ice cold coffee, long since having lost it's fresh-from-the-pot warmth and pulled into the garage.

Her charcoal grey pants suit was still as crisp and fresh as ever, with not a single wrinkle or blemish to be had. Her leather purse slung over her shoulder carelessly as she slid her key into the door and waited to step into the main hall of Schnee Manor, when she was taken aback by a poof of rose petals that quickly took shape into the form of her dolt of a wife, blocking her entrance.

"Weiss! My love! Darling! My beautiful, oh so gorgeous wife! How…how are you today? Did you do good business? Yeah? Lots of business I hope! Soooo much business!" Ruby stammered. Weiss merely cocked a quizzical eyebrow before sighing heavily.

"I'm tired, Ruby, so I'm just going to cut to the chase - what did you do?" she demanded.

"Who me? Nothing, nothing at all! Absolutely nothing, I am one hundred percent innocent! " Ruby sputtered nervously, her face flushed red and sweat beading on her forehead. "Completely unrelated, but you have to leave right now."

Now irritated, Weiss pushed her way past Ruby and stormed into the main entrance hall of the mansion, half expecting to see raging fires, or smashed family relics or chocolate hand-prints all over the walls, but there was…nothing. At least, nothing out of the ordinary.

"Okay, what gives?" Weiss barked. "You're acting suspicious and yet I don't see any fires or dead bodies and somehow that makes me more suspicious." Ruby bit her bottom lip and seemed to be glancing past Weiss, frantically looking all over the floor as if she expected something to come running out at any moment. "Well? I'm waiting?"

"Soooo remember a week or so ago when I went on that hunt with Jaune and Pyrrha? To that village in Vacuo?" Ruby said, still glancing all over the floor.

"I remember, yes. There were several nests of baby deathstalkers that needed to be cleaned out." Weiss replied. "But why does that make you so nervous now?"

"Well, after we cleared out the nests, one little guy was left and I guess he was the runt of the litter? He was so cute, Weiss! So tiny and little and he didn't seem like a threat at all, so when Jaune and Pyrrha were busy victory smooching, I stuffed the little guy in my travel bag…"

"You bright a Grimm into our house?!" Weiss bellowed, her face burning with rage. "Are you dense?! Are you insane?! You know Grimm can sense each other's presences and draw them to our location!"

"I know, I know, I took that class with Port too, but listen - Dr. Kisses is so small that-"

"You named it Dr. Kisses?!" Weiss interrupted.

"Well, technically his full name is Thaddeus Stonewall Rose-Schnee, but he goes by Dr. Kisses to seem more friendly."

Weiss grit her teeth and clenched her fists, her anger ready to boil over. Ruby had always been a dolt, but this was far beyond anything she had ever done.

"So that is why you don't want me in my own family home? Because you apparently have a pet Grimm?" she seethed. Ruby took a step back, realizing that she may have goofed too hard this time around.

"…well, he escaped-"

"IT ESCAPED?!" Weiss roared, grabbing Ruby by the shoulders. "There is a baby deathstalker loose in my mansion?!"

"I'm sorry, Weiss! I was trying to clean out the fish tank I kept him in, but he crawled out on the stick I put in and I haven't been able to find him since." Ruby whimpered. Weiss took a deep breath, trying to drive out the anger that was wanting to explode from within. She was in control, she can handle this.

"Okay, Ruby…we already have Zwei and as cute as that Grimm may have looked, it's still a dangerous monster. It will grow and we have seen firsthand how big a deathstalker can be. Your heart was in the right place, but unfortunately, your head wasn't. We have to find this thing and destroy it." Weiss ordered, keeping her voice even-keeled and level. Ruby nodded and her shoulders slumped as common sense had suddenly hit her like a backhand from a cantankerous Ursa.

"You're right, I'm sorry…" she said. "Can you forgive me?"

"Of course, Dolt." Weiss said with a grin, "but first I need your help to lure the thing out. "

"Oh, yes! Anything, how can I help?" Weiss said excitedly, eager to please.

"Well, we just need to generate some negative…emotions!" Weiss growled, kicking the heel of her left stiletto into the soft PJ pants fabric of Ruby's leg, connecting right at the shin. Ruby yelped in pain and began to hop around on one leg, rambling and whimpering. The pain was enough to draw the creature out, the baby deathstalker skittering from underneath a nearby chair and running to the source of the energy. It barely made it to Weiss before the SDC CEO and part-time huntress drove that same stiletto heel right into the base of what would be the Grimm's head. The creature squealed and thrashed, but Weiss held firm, pushing the heel in deeper till broke through the hard exoskeleton with a sickening crack. The Grimm went limp before dissolving into harmless specs of dust.

Wincing, Ruby carefully put her leg down and shook it a bit, her natural aura already healing it, but the pain still lingered.

"I suppose I deserved that…" she said sheepishly. Weiss merely nodded.

"Indeed. And you can further repay me for endangering our entire household by drawing me a bubble bath and ordering us a large pepperoni and mushroom pizza from the Rosa Bianca Pizzeria."

"And then I'm forgiven?"

"Then you are forgiven."

"Thanks. I love you, Weiss."

"And I love you too. Even if you are a huge Dolt."

"But I'm your Dolt!"

"Unfortunately, yes." Weiss said, but the smile on her face said otherwise.


	7. Just trust me

(CONTENT WARNING/TRIGGER WARNING: Today's entry is a bit darker than the previous six. It's not angst and there's no death, but there is some blood and some serious personal injury. Not sure if that would specifically be triggering for anyone, but better safe than sorry, ya know?)

The borbatusk snarled with rage, it's various cuts and wounds only fueling its primal anger. Weiss merely scoffed and elegantly twirled Myrtenaster, almost as if she was daring the Grimm to attack. The beast's cloven hooves stomped the ground and it charged blindly at Weiss, its blood tipped horns ready to end the huntress right where she stood. But death would not come for Weiss, but instead, she stepped away at the last second and pulled the trigger on her rapier, sending a burst of refined ice dust that impaled the Grimm from underneath. Then, with a smug 'Hmph', she lopped it's head off with a swing of her weapon, causing the Grimm to dissolve into nothingness. But Weiss did not come to kill this Grimm, but rather answer a distress signal that she received from a certain Dolt she was married to.

"That…was so cool…" Ruby groaned, slumped against a nearby tree.

"I know, thank you," Weiss stated, sheathing her weapon on her waistband and kneeling next to Ruby. The RWBY team leader was slouched against a tall oak tree, her blood-soaked hands clutching her side as she grimaced in pain. "You're going to need to move your hands."

"I…I know…" Ruby said hoarsely, "just give me a second. It hurts to move."

"Take your time," Weiss said gently, brushing a sweaty clump of Ruby's hair from her forehead. "I can't believe you thought it would be a good idea to go hunting on your own. Literally, the first thing we learned back at Beacon was to always bring someone with you!"

Ruby moved her hand away from her side and gasped in pain, biting her bottom lip as a coping mechanism. "I just thought I could do it on my own. The report said it was just one borbatusk, not four of them. But…are you sure this is going to w-work?" she wheezed.

"Just trust me," Weiss said. "This is a field survival technique used by the Atlesian military. Winter taught it to me before the day I left for Beacon."

"C-cool…" Ruby whispered, her voice hoarse and weak. Though she seemed cool and collected on the outside, Weiss was a raging ball of emotions and fear seeing her beloved bleed profusely from where the borbatusk had gored her. "S-so…on a scale of one to ten, how bad is this going to hurt?"

"You know I would never lie to you, Ruby, so I'm going to be honest - you're at least looking at a twelve or thirteen," Weiss stated grimly, reaching into her knapsack. Fumbling a bit and trying to hide the panic that came with it, she found what she was looking for - a perfect quality, refined fire dust crystal, and an equally pure ice crystal. Both were smooth and free of any mineral impurities thanks to the SDC's patented refining process, which was good because this was not a situation where something could go wrong.

"Oh, lucky number thirteen," Ruby laughed weakly, before grunting in pain. As Weiss used a field knife to cut away the black fabric of Ruby's combat skirt, her stomach churned and what lied under the bloodstained material. Ruby's side had a clean puncture in it, just below the left side of her rib cage and it was bleeding badly. The skin had been cut away like a wet tissue paper and the whole area was red with spilled vitae. "Be honest with me doc, am I ever gonna dance again?" Ruby whimpered. Weiss shot her a look. "Heh, sorry, just trying to lighten the mood…not every day you bleed to death, ya know?"

"You're not going to bleed to death, at least not if you don't stop talking," Weiss ordered. Ruby pantomimed zipping her mouth shut, inadvertently smearing blood on her lips from her crimson soaked fingers where she had been holding her wound. With a loud snap, Weiss broke the fire crystal in half, the heat immediately beginning to radiate it from it, making the air above it dance and wiggle like a hypnotic spell. "Now hold still."

"WAIT!" Ruby protested, with surprising volume. "Before you do it, can…can you kiss me while doing it? I figure if I scream into your mouth, it won't attract any more Grimm." Weiss quickly nodded.

"Clever way of getting me to kiss you, as if you had to ask," she said warmly. "Very well. On the count of three, we kiss and I use the crystal. Ready?" Ruby nodded, her silver eyes locked into full determination. "Here we go - 1…2…3!"

Two things happened, almost instantaneously - Ruby lunged forward and locked lips with her Snowflake in a kiss that was so unromantic and so desperately needy that it somehow became romantic in its sheer desperation. And secondly, Weiss pressed the searing hot fire dust crystal on Ruby's wound. The skin sang out with a loud sizzle, the smell of burning flesh burning both girl's noses as Ruby screamed into Weiss' mouth. Fighting back tears, Weiss held on to her Dolt as hard as she could, keeping the crystal pressed firmly while counting down from five, exactly like Winter had taught her.

When Weiss had reached the number she was looking for, she broke the kiss and grabbed the ice crystal, mentally cursing at herself for not breaking it beforehand. Ruby's face was pale, her eyes wild with agony as the skin around her wound was raw and angry. The ice crystal snapped just as easily and Weiss wasted no time pressing it against the burn. The now cauterized wound made a soft hissing sound as the freezing temperatures of the crystal were entirely localized around the throbbing pain. Ruby's eyes rolled back in her head a bit, the sudden rush of cold canceling out the hot pain.

"Ooooohhh…" she said and slouched even further down, but her breathing was slowly becoming less short and ragged. "That…really feels good…"

"I'm sure it does, hun," Weiss said, using a pet name. She rarely did so, usually referring to Ruby as "Dolt" or "her Dolt", but this was the first time she had actually used such a romantic honorific title. "Can you walk if I help you? The extraction zone isn't too far from here, but there are too many trees for the airship to make a safe landing where we are."

"Y-yeah, I think so," Ruby said, groaning as she used Crescent Rose to prop herself up.

"Good. Put your arm around my shoulder and we can go slowly. You are under strict orders to stay in bed for at least a week while your aura heals you."

"Yes, ma'am!" Ruby said, giving a weak military salute.

**EPILOGUE**

"Oh, I would be so mad if that happened to me!" Ruby said laughing. "He bid three hundred and one Lien on that X-Station 720? Classic!"

A little over 24 hours later and Ruby was laying in bed at Schnee Manor, wearing her usual PJ pants, but just a sports bra as a top as her mid-section was heavily wrapped in gauze to speed up the healing process. She was watching her favorite game show, "The Cost is Correct", and hooting and hollering along with the studio audience when there was a gentle knock on the door frame.

"Knock knock, sis," Yang said, carrying a bouquet of flowers. "Didn't mean to interrupt your one-woman TV party."

"Yang! Blake! So glad to see you!" Ruby said, holding her arms out for a hug. Yang lunged across the room, engulfing her baby sister in a tight embrace.

"Please never go on a solo hunt again, okay?" she said, choking up a bit.

"I promise," Ruby said. "Trust me, I've lost count on how many times Weiss has lectured me."

"Speaking of, where is she?" Blake said, holding a tin box in her arms.

"At work," Ruby said with a shrug. "She wanted to stay home and fawn over me, but I told her having her as a nanny wasn't going to make me heal any faster. And what's in the tin?"

"Cookies," Blake said, pulling off the lid. "My Dad made these for you. He claims it's a secret Belladonna family recipe 'passed down from generation to generation', but it's just something he buys from a local baker in Menagerie, he just thinks Mom and I don't know." Blake had barely finished talking before Ruby eagerly snatched the tin from her sister-in-law's arm and was already grubbing on the chocolate chip cookies.

"Duhwifish!" she said, a mouthful of baked goods. Yang smirked and tussled her sister's hair, so happy to see her alive and on the mend.

"Can I get you anything?" Yang queried, "A soda? Some pizza? Anything?"

"Well, um, actually, I could use a little privacy…" Ruby said, blushing and gesturing towards the empty bedpan on the nightstand next to her. "I kinda have to pee…"


	8. I've been waiting a long time

"You did what?!" Yang yelled in disbelief. Ruby visibly shrank a bit in her makeup chair in response.

"It was an accident!" Ruby whined as Winter put the final touches of tying roses into her hair. Ruby had let her hair grow longer for the wedding, with her locks now cascading just slightly below her shoulders. "I put the box down for a second because I had to potty and then Nora knocked on the door asking what time we were eating at the reception, and then Jaune called because he was lost and needed directions and UGH!" Winter said nothing, merely holding a disappointed scowl on her face. Yang was pacing back and forth in her full maid-of-honor dress while Blake tried to be the voice of reason.

"So the ring has to be in this room somewhere, yes? You haven't left here all day so it couldn't have gone far," she said. Like Yang, her strapless dress was a deep shade of crimson red that came down to her ankles but had a slit up to the knees. Matching black pumps completed the ensemble. They needed to match Ruby's dress, which was a cross between her second combat skirt and her Beacon Ball gown, as it was the only thing she really felt comfortable in. Coco had designed everything and the heavily armed fashionista made sure everything was perfect. After all, it's not every day you get to have complete control over a wedding.

"Could you please hold still for just one more moment?" Winter pleaded, tying one more rose into Ruby's hair. "Your constant squirming is making this extremely difficult!"

"I wouldn't squirm if I didn't feel like you're trying to pull my hair out of my scalp!" Ruby snapped back. "I'd at least like to have some hair left when I marry your sister!"

"It's a miracle my hair is already white or else I would be turning grey right now!" Winter fired as a retort. Yang clapped her hands, the sound of metal on flesh echoing throughout the tiny living room.

"ENOUGH!" she said angrily. "All of this bickering isn't going to help us at all! And besides, we need to keep it down in case anyone outside can hear us."

In fact, all four ladies were tucked away inside the living room of the Xiao-Long/Rose household on Patch, which was doubling as the dressing room for Ruby and her bridesmaids. The rest of the wedding guests and party, including Weiss, were standing out in the backyard waiting for Ruby to make her grand entrance. Except Ruby had lost the ring and now panic was quickly erupting through the room.

"Let's break this down logically," Winter said, her voice firm as if she was ordering a squadron of Atlesian troops. "We simply retrace Ms. Rose's footsteps from the moment she used the facilities till now."

"Okay, that seems easy enough…" Ruby said quietly, standing up. "Now the bathroom is over there and then I walked to the back door cause Nora knocked…"

"Was there anyone else at the door with you?" Winter interrogated.

"Besides Nora? No, just me and-OH WAIT! Zwei was there too! He jumped up on me and I had to push him off cause I didn't want him to tear my dress up!"

Blake pulled back the curtain to the back of the room and found Zwei sitting patiently next to Weiss at the altar. Qrow had taken some online course and became certified in something called The Church of the Seventh Muo but regardless, it at least meant he could perform the ceremony. Blake's Faunus enhanced eyes focused on Zwei and there in his mouth was the ring box. He wasn't chewing it, just holding it as if he thought he was the ring bearer.

"Guys, I see the ring!" Blake said triumphantly. "But Zwei has it."

"Okay, so no big deal - we just go out and grab the box and bring it back here so Ruby can bring it with her. Easy peasy." Yang said with a dismissive shrug.

"Yeah, you go out there and tell Weiss that the dog has the ring box and see how that goes," Ruby said with a bitter laugh. Winter nodded in agreement.

"As someone who knows Weiss just as well as Ms. Rose, I feel like it would be better to somehow lure the dog back in here." the Atlesian general said. "But how do we do that? We can't whistle or call the dog's name, lest everyone see what is going on."

"Point taken." Yang sighed with defeat. "Okay ladies, let's put our noggins together - how do we get Zwei to come back here without being too explicit?" An uneasy silence hung in the air and then slowly Yang, Ruby and Winter all began to look at Blake.

"What? Why is everyone staring at me? …oh come on, you can't be serious!" she said, it suddenly dawning on her what everyone had in mind.

"Pleeeeaaasssseeee!" Ruby begged. "It's my wedding, Blake! I promise I'll owe you one! You'd be my favorite sister-in-law ever!"

"I'm your only sister-in-law!"

"Great, so there's no competition! But pleeeeaasssseeee!"

Blake puffed out a sigh and looked around the room and especially the pleading silver eyes of her teammate and sister-in-law.

"Fine, I'll be the chew toy. Again." she said dryly. Ruby hugged Blake tightly around the waist, pulling her in for a grateful embrace.

"Oh yeah, Ladybug for the win!" she cheered.

Mumbling with irritation, Blake walked towards the back door and crouched as best she could in the dress.

"Zweeeeiiii…" she whispered. "It's me…your favorite chew toy…."

She knew the dog could hear her and sure enough, the four-legged terror burst through the backyard and plowed right into Blake, dropping the box so he could slather her with kisses and licks.

"Get! Off! Of! Me!" Blake yelped, pushing the dog off. Zwei plopped down and sat, his tongue wagging out of his mouth in excitement. Ruby hurriedly snatched the box, wiped it down on the side of her dress and sighed with relief. The box had a few teeth marks in it, but the rings were intact and as beautiful as ever.

"Thank you, Blake! I owe you one. Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get this party started!" Ruby cheered with a fist pump. Yang poked her head out towards Neptune, who was serving as the DJ for the evening, and gave him a nod to get started, and soon the first chords "HERE COMES THE BRIDE" began to play on CD as everyone stood at attention.

Weiss felt relief wash over her as things were finally getting started. Unlike Ruby, Weiss had decided to wear a suit instead, a sharp three-piece ensemble that was the color of fresh snow, a pure white that matched the pure love she had for her Dolt.

"I'm still getting paid by the hour, right?" Qrow whispered, taking a sip from his flask.

"You're lucky you're getting paid at all. Don't push it." Weiss muttered back. Ruby finally made it to the altar, her hair radiant with the perfectly placed roses and her makeup done with meticulous detail by Winter. Weiss smiled, but couldn't help tease a bit. "I've been waiting a long time." Ruby blushed, taking Weiss hand to help her not trip in the Lady Stilts.

"Good things come to those who wait," Ruby said with a smile.

"Let us hope so. This suit is nonreturnable." Weiss said sarcastically. Ruby giggled and gave her Snowflake a kiss on the cheek.

"Okay, let's begin!"


	9. You're in love with her

"You're in love with her." Yang said suddenly. Weiss spit out her coffee, the hot liquid melting the Atlesian snow on the ground at her feet.

"What? Who? Ruby?" she finally managed to say, wiping her mouth with a napkin.

"No, I mean Maria, you totally have a GILF fetish. Yes, I mean Ruby, Ice Queen!" Yang said with a chuckle. "You have the hots for my sister and I want to let you know I'm okay with it."

Weiss' face went pale and she opened and closed her mouth several times as words were getting caught in her throat. It was a rare break of her usual proper etiquette and composure.

"I…I do not!" came her meek reply. Yang smirked and shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest and leaned against a tree they had been standing near. The entire crew had a rare moment to relax before venturing onward into Atlas. Qrow was napping back in the airship, while JNR went off to go find food. Well, rather Nora went off to go find food and dragged "her boys" with her and they were not one to refuse the thunder goddess. Oscar and Ruby had gotten into an impromptu snowball fight while Blake, Yang, and Weiss watched. Maria had wandered off somewhere, saying she had business to take care of and that she would be back soon.

"Who are you trying to convince - me or yourself?" was Yang's reply, causing Blake to giggle. Weiss fumed, her cheeks flushing red hot.

"Ruby and I are friends, nothing more. If we are anything, it's 'BFFs' like she so proudly claims to anyone within earshot." said the ex-heiress. Up front, Ruby was profusely apologizing to Oscar after she Semblance dodged a snowball of his and plastered him upside the head with one of her own.

"Weiss, let me ask you this - when you wake up in the morning, who is the first person you usually talk to?" queried Blake.

"Usually Ruby," Weiss said.

"And who do you spend most of the day with, if not the entire day?" Blake followed up.

"That would be Ruby."

"And when you fall asleep at night, who wishes you a good night and makes sure you're always comfortable and that you have enough blankets and pillows?"

"….Ruby." Weiss said softly, before sighing. "Look…I admit that at times, my feelings for Ruby may go a bit more…shall we say, _deeper_, than just friends, but there's an aspect you're not considering here."

"Uncle Qrow?" Yang said confused. "I mean, I know he's not exactly big on you Schnees, but I think by now he'd realize you're not going to hurt Rubes." Weiss shook her head in frustration.

"No, no, no! I mean him." she hissed, gesturing towards Oscar who was now letting out a battle cry as he attempted to smite Ruby with snowballs of his own doing, but she was easily Semblance dodging him, only adding to his frustration.

"Wait, you think Ruby has a crush on Oscar?" Yang snorted. "I know you're the Ice Queen, but that doesn't mean you have to be a thick as an iceberg. For starters, he's too young and secondly, there's the whole ancient wizard Ozpin living in his brain. Not exactly a turn on."

"I get what you mean, though, Weiss," Blake said, offering a bit more support. "They do seem like they have a lot of fun together, but Ruby is a kid at heart and Oscar is, well, a literal kid. Of course, they're going to hit it off. Ruby never had a younger sibling and now she has one in Oscar. But you? You're her whole world."

"Even so, I'm not sure I'm strong enough for her," Weiss said dejectedly.

"Huh? You literally gave up an entire fortune to stand for what you believed in. How is that not strong?" Yang said in disbelief. "Look, let me put it this way - you remember Grego blocks growing up?" she added. Weiss blinked in confusion.

"You mean those little plastic blocks that snap together? I had some, yes." Weiss said suspiciously. "Where are you going with this?"

"You and Rubes are like two different Grego blocks. By yourselves, you're okay but you click together. She liberates you and you keep her level headed and focused, you complete each other, snapping together like a Grego block."

"You get a girlfriend no less than a day and now you're giving me relationship advice?" Weiss scoffed. Blake blushed, still not quite adjusting to the fact she and Yang were now dating.

"Why does everyone seemed surprised that I'm not some drunken party girl?" Yang snapped in irritation. "Did you all forget I basically made the honor roll every month back at Beacon?"

Weiss sighed heavily and watched Ruby laughing hysterically as she played in the snow with Oscar. There was such pure energy coming from her which seemed fitting because of her silver eyes and what they could do. Could it possibly work? What would everyone else say? That team RWBY was just some giant orgy where everyone dated everyone? Weiss shook her head, pushing those thoughts away. Life is too short to care what other people think. Weiss pursed her lips in thought.

"So since you're so full of gay wisdom today, Yang, let me ask you this - how do I even begin to tell her how I feel? Not all of us can make a grand gesture like hitting our girlfriend's abusive ex with their motorcycle, you know."

"Hey, don't knock it till you try it!" Yang smirked with a wink and finger guns.

"I think what Yang is trying to say is that you don't need to make a grand gesture with Ruby. What Yang did was literally a life or death situation, but you have a bit more luxury. Ruby doesn't need big, sweeping gestures. She likes simple things - cookies, weapons…more cookies. Strawberries." Blake added with a comforting smile. "Sometimes the best answer is the easiest. Just go and ask her to go see a movie with you tonight. Start small and see where it goes."

Weiss felt like her stomach was a volcano about to erupt, her muscles tense. She had been in denial for so long, refusing to believe it but Yang and Blake had told her how painfully obvious it was - she was in love with Ruby Rose.

"Okay," she said quietly. "I can do this." Her head held high, her back in perfect posture, Weiss walked across the snowy field to where Ruby and Oscar were taking a break from their impromptu snowball war. "Ruby? May I please speak with you privately?"

'Great, way to make it sound like you're not a disappointed school teacher…' Weiss thought. Ruby and Oscar abruptly stopped what they were doing and took a quick look at each other, their faces puzzled and slightly worried.

"Uh, sure, Weiss. I'll catch up with you in a bit, Oscar!" Ruby yelled as she followed Weiss across the corner to a nearby bench. "So what's up? If it's about the scratch on Myrtenaster, I swear it was an accident! I just wanted to see if I could throw it like a dart and I missed and-"

"Wait, what scratch? No, you know what? Nevermind. Ruby, look - I…I wanted to know if you are free tonight and if so, would you want to go see a movie and grab a bite to eat? My treat, of course. I know all the best restaurants in Atlas." Weiss stammered nervously. Ruby merely stared for a second, her face a mask of confusion and bewilderment.

"Are…are you asking me out on a date?" she finally said. Weiss merely nodded.

"Yes."

"I WOULD LOVE TO!" Ruby squealed, hugging Weiss tight around her neck. "I think 'Attack of the Mutant Hamsters' is playing and I've been wanting to see it for so long."

"Oh, that sounds…lovely." Weiss lied. "I think we'd have…so much fun." Ruby gave an adorable giggle as a reply and blushing as deep a red as her cloak, stole a lightning fast kiss on Weiss' cheek.

"Thank you…" she said, still blushing.

"Trust me, Ruby. The pleasure is all mine."


	10. Come here

Weiss Rose-Schnee groaned as she stretched her back. It was a way later than she wanted to get home, but it had been a productive day at work, albeit a long one. She had been in very stressful meetings all day with various tribe leaders from Vacuo to discuss installing new SDC "Climate Centers" that would use a mixture of ice and gravity dust to provide clean drinking water as well as fending off dangerous sandstorms. Naturally, even with Weiss in charge, the SDC still carried a reputation, one that she was desperately trying to fix. In the end, most of the leaders had agreed to try out the technology which was a huge win for everyone involved.

Now, however, she was exhausted and wanted nothing more to curl up on the couch next to her Dolt and fall asleep to some terrible horror movie of her wife's choosing. But when she finally opened the front door, there was no explosion of rose petals and a frantic cry of "Weisssssss!" followed by a running tackle-hug. There wasn't even half-blind Zwei, the senior canine citizen that he is, farting and snorting around the front lobby, following the trail of Weiss' scent. There was nobody. The entire mansion was deadly quiet, except for the soft sounds of the television coming from the living room. Ruby had to be home, as her moped, Rosebud, was parked in the garage.

"She probably fell asleep watching TV…" Weiss said to herself with a soft chuckle. Already she envisioned her wife spread eagle on the couch, snoring loudly as the TV went on with some late night 'Pasta Master 9000' infomercial. When Weiss walked down the hallway to the living room, the TV was stuck on an infomercial, but there was no sleeping Ruby. Instead, there was a rose-red envelope, closed by a wax seal with a rose design pressed on it. The front simply read "TO MY WIFE" in Ruby's handwriting. Now beyond curious, Weiss broke the seal and read the paper inside.

_Welcome home and I love and adore you_

_I promise this quest isn't to bore you_

_You're very pretty and super neat_

_The next part of your puzzle is where we prepare meat_

Weiss sighed and rubbed her temples. All she wanted was to relax and unwind and now Ruby had her on a 'Dungeons and Dolts' quest with riddles and who knows what else.

"Fine, I'll play along!" she said loudly, just in case Ruby was hiding somewhere in the shadows. "But I'm letting you know I'm not thrilled with this, Ruby. I am extremely tired."

No response.

Her riddle more than likely meant the private kitchen, so that's where she was headed. The Manor actually had two kitchens, the main one (which Ruby called the Super Kitchen) was where the private chefs prepared fabulous meals for their company. The secondary kitchen (which Ruby called the Home Kitchen) was a smaller, yet still much larger than the norm, kitchen where Ruby could be found on her off days baking endless batches of cookies or experimenting with new recipes. She had become quite the chef as of late, something she said she thinks she inherited from her mother.

The secondary kitchen was pitch black and after fumbling in the dark a bit for the switch, Weiss found and flipped it and the entire area was illuminated in glowing fluorescent light. In a cast iron frying pan on the stovetop was another rose red envelope with Ruby's handwriting. Wasting no time, Weiss broke the seal and read the next "clue" in whatever game her Dolt had in mind.

_You found my clue! YAYYY! It wasn't so tough_

_But be warned, Snowflake, the next one is very RUFF_

The deliberate misspelling of 'rough' was all the clue Weiss needed to find the next piece of the puzzle. Heading back into the living room, she found the corner that served as Zwei's play area. A well-worn plush bed was there, along with his various chew toys and squeaky toys. He was a much older dog now, half blind and slightly senile, but still just as lovable as ever. He spent most of his days either napping or wandering around the Manor leaving behind a trail of horrible dog farts. However, the loyal canine companion wasn't in his bed this night, instead, another one of Ruby's envelopes had taken his place. It was clear that Ruby had taken great care to make this handwriting seem "bad" as if she didn't write it. Rolling her eyes, Weiss broke the seal again and read the note:

_Sorry, Mom, I'm not here, I'm with Aunties Yang and Blake_

_But do you want to come upstairs?_

_I promise it's no mistake!_

"Oh, this is so childish!" Weiss complained loudly, just in case Ruby was within earshot. "Now you're doing notes from the dog? I swear you are five years old." But still, she complied, heading up the main staircase towards whatever objective Ruby had in mind. Weiss had just made the first few steps when she saw the trail of rose petals, but the fact they hadn't evaporated into air meant these actually came from a rose and not her Rose's Semblance. Since it was still dim in the entire mansion, Weiss used the light of her Scroll to follow the trail up the stairs, down the hall and right to the closed door of the master bedroom. Slowly, she pushed open the door, not sure of what to expect. Standing there was Ruby, but she was wearing a very skimpy lingerie outfit and blushing an adorable shade of crimson.

"Hey, uh, Snowflake…" she nervously warbled. "I…hope you like this!" She was standing in place either due to nerves or the fact she was wearing blood red "lady stilts", something she still couldn't quite master. Thigh high stockings rode up on her toned legs, with a fabric rose dead center on the front of each garment. The underwear was barely there, leaving very little to the imagination and the entire ensemble was punctuated by a matching push-up bra. Weiss' mouth went dry and her words were failing her.

"You…bought this?" she managed to croak.

"Well, you've been working so hard lately at the office and I know you're trying to help people out and I wanted to thank you and I didn't know how but then I remembered Nora has a platinum membership to Dunkelman's Secret, so I asked if she could help me out and she said Ren really likes this but in a different color, so I went with the rose theme and-" Ruby rambled, a bad habit she would fall into when nervous.

"Ruby…"

"-and I hope you like this because I normally don't wear this kind of thing. I mean, the panties are just killing me, Weiss. I normally don't wear anything this skimpy and it feels like I have butt floss and I keep picking it at like it's a wedgie and Nora said it's not something you wear, but something you wear to take off and I didn't know what that meant at first-"

"Ruby."

"-and then I was going to light some candles, but I didn't know what time you were going to get home and I was worried they'd all be burned out by the time you got here and the wax would melt and I know you said a lot of the furniture here are antiques and I didn't want to dribble hot wax on a nightstand that is hundreds of years old and-"

"RUBY!"

Ruby stopped mid-sentence and blinked her silver eyes, rebooting her train of thought in the process.

"Y-Yes, Weiss?"

"Come here." was all she replied.

"Listen, if you're mad at me for spending all this money, I promise you-"

"Come here!" Weiss said with a bit more force. Ruby wobbled over on her lady stilts, walking like a little girl trying on Mommy's shoes for the first that are way too big for her.

"I'm so sorry I upset you, this whole thing wasHMMPFPFFGGGH!" Ruby was cut off by a passionate, deep, loving kiss from Weiss. The kiss went on for a minute or two, till Weiss reluctantly broke it to come back for air. The look in her crystal blue eyes was almost predatory, looking like Blake's face moments before eviscerating a plate of her favorite tuna. "I, uh…I take it you like this then?"

"Ruby Rose, the fact you went through all this trouble just to try and 'seduce' me is unbelievable and yet not surprising at all. To put it bluntly, you are going to be lucky if you can walk tomorrow morning."

Ruby could do nothing but let out a quiet 'meep' in surprise as Weiss kissed her again, closing the bedroom door with her foot.


	11. We could get arrested for this

"We could get arrested for this."

Nora held back her laughter, not wanting to make any more noise than she absolutely needed to.

"And who's going to arrest us? The Cafeteria Police?" she laughed. Ruby still was nervous, awkwardly fidgeting with the hem of her cloak, but Nora pressed onward. "No one is gonna know, Ruby, I'm telling you! Everyone is already settled down for the evening. We'll be in and out, no problem."

It was past the mandated curfew at Beacon Academy and Ruby Rose and Nora Valkyrie had found themselves in front of the staff entrance for the Mess Hall. Ruby was on lookout while Nora used her Junior Detective lock picking kit that she had purchased online, to fiddle with the locked door. It was Nora's idea to make a snack run and though Ruby had hesitated at first, the idea of walking around with an arm load of cookies did seem appealing.

"I just don't like stealing from the academy, that's all. When you said we were going out for a snack run, I didn't think we would breaking and entering!" Ruby protested. "I figured you we would sneak off to 7-7-7-11 or something!"

Nora continued to fiddle with the lockpick kit before the actual lock disengaged with a satisfying 'click' and the service entrance swung open.

"We're gonna sneak in, get the stuff, sneak out, lock the door up and be out before anyone notices!" the thunder goddess said cheerfully.

"But you have like tons of maple syrup already back in your dorm!"

"Yeah, but this is the good stuff!" Nora salivated, rubbing her hands together in excitement. "They've got that fancy premium syrup made from the red sap from the Emerald Forrest. That stuff is hard to get cause of the Lancers, but they have gallons of it in here!" Ruby found that hard to believe, as the syrup they would get for their pancakes or waffles was always the mass-produced sugar gel that you could find at any discount store.

"If they have this syrup why aren't they serving it?" Ruby asked as she set foot in the empty mess hall. With no stars or moon in the sky, the only light in the mess hall came from the soft purple glow of the PEOPLE LIKE GRAPES machines. Nora reached into her backpack and came up with a high powered flashlight, the luminescent beam cutting through the gloomy interior.

"Because, duh, Ozpin and Goodwitch want to keep all the good stuff for themselves. No, we are going to free the syrup and let it be enjoyed by everyone!"

"And by everyone you mean you?"

"More or less," Nora giggled. She aimed the light beam over the empty tables and benches, her shoes clicking and echoing throughout the empty hall. "Okay, now…let's see…oh here we go!" she said, finding the double metal doors that lead to the kitchen. It was massive, which made sense considering the sheer number of students and faculty it had to cook for. Pots and pans hung from the ceiling and the room was filled with the quiet hum of several walk-in freezers. "Now if I were a giant jar of syrup, where I would be?" Nora pondered.

"Uh, maybe we should go…" Ruby said quietly, frantically glancing over her shoulder. "I don't like this and if we get caught…"

"For the last time, we're not gonna get caught!" Nora said as she fumbled through a large cabinet. "Now where is it…mustard…no…ketchup…no…mayonnaise? Blech. Double no. C'mon…come to Mama, I know you're here somewhere…"

Ruby sighed heavily and decided she might as well help. The sooner they found this syrup, the faster they could leave. She didn't even want the cookies at this point, she just wanted out of this kitchen. She found another stainless steel stand up cabinet and opened it, the doors making a metallic groaning sound that seemed to echo throughout the kitchen. Shuffling through bags of potato chips, condiments, cooking sauces and more, she was seriously starting to doubt that this syrup was anywhere in the building.

"Nora, I don't think that syrup is here. We should probably-"

"I FOUND IT!" Nora proudly interrupted, hoisting a large glass jar over her head as if it were a war trophy. "They thought they could be clever and hide it behind the pickles but you'll never be able to hide legendary syrup from me!" The tree sap had been boiled and processed to produce a sticky sweet substance, all of it contained in this solid glass receptacle.

"It doesn't look that impressive," Ruby frowned. Nora just shook her head in disbelief, unable to grasp how someone could be so blind to the pure flavor within.

"Here!" Nora said, unscrewing the lid. "Taste it, just a little bit, though. Save the rest for me."

Cautiously, Ruby dipped the tip of her index finger in the syrup and brought it to her lips for tasting. Immediately, her taste buds exploded in a symphony of sugary sweet deliciousness the likes of which she had never witnessed. It was like a thousand cookies were partying in her mouth and everyone was hyped up on energy drinks.

"It's…amazing," Ruby said in breathless awe.

"It's stolen contraband is what it is and both of you will pay for it." Immediately Ruby and Nora whipped their heads around to see a very irritated Weiss, still clad in her school uniform, impatiently tapping her foot in front of them. A whistle hung from her neck, and a sash was slung from her shoulder to hip that said 'HALL MONITOR' on it. "You have exactly five seconds to comply before I blow this whistle and summon any teaching authorities to this premises!" the Ice Queen ordered.

"Wait, when did we get a hall monitor?" Nora wondered out loud, reluctantly screwing the lid of the jar back on.

"Officially, we do not have one yet. My requests to Professor Ozpin have so far gone unheeded but I'm sure it's because he is incredibly busy. Until then, I have taken it upon myself to be Beacon's unofficially official hall monitor and help restore some common decency on this campus." Weiss stated dryly.

"How…how did you find us?" Ruby asked.

"That was easy. Upon doing my rounds of the campus I happened to notice that the lock on was tampered with and I could hear hushed whispering from deep within the kitchen. I made sure to quietly enter and found you two dorks engaging in breaking and entering!"

"Okay, so, uh, this isn't what it looks like," Nora said nervously. "I was just, um, testing these for freshness to make sure nothing was spoiled and umOHMYGOD is that a King Taijitu?! RUN FOR IT!" Nora yelled, tossing the jar to a confused Ruby. Frantically, she bolted out of the kitchen and out of the Mess Hall in general making no attempts to look back or check on Ruby. "You'll never take me alive, coppers!" she yelled defiantly, disappearing into the night.

"It's not as if I don't know where her dorm room is…" Weiss muttered half to herself and half to Ruby. "Regardless, I would expect these sugary shenanigans from her, but you? I'm more disappointed in you, Ruby. As our team leader, you have to set the standard for the rest of us." Ruby sighed and put the jar back in the cabinet.

"I…I dunno, Weiss! She texted me and asked if I wanted to do a cookie run with her and I thought she meant going to 7-7-7-11 but she never said she wanted to break into the mess hall! Honest, you gotta believe me!" she pleaded. Weiss furrowed her brow as if she was in deep thought.

"And yet you still followed her in here?" she finally said, her voice low and even.

"I didn't know what kind of trouble she would get into without someone to talk sense into her. Normally that's Ren's job, but he wasn't here."

"I see." was all Weiss said. "Ruby, I'm going to be honest with you…if I blow this whistle, nothing is going to happen besides waking people up and odds are we'll both get in trouble for being out past curfew."

Ruby finally made eye contact with Weiss, previously being too ashamed to even look in her general direction.

"So does this mean I'm off the hook?" she asked hopefully.

"Pfft. Hardly. Just because I'm not going to Ozpin with this doesn't mean you're going to escape without any kind of discipline. Midterms are coming up soon and as team-leader, I expect you to get nothing less than an A plus. So I will be your official study guide from now till then and I will work with you till you achieve this goal." Weiss replied smugly, a glimmer of mischief in her eyes.

"…and if I say no?" Ruby hesitantly asked, testing the waters.

"Simple. I tell your sister you were out past curfew."

"I don't think she'd be that upset-"

"And that you were out past curfew because you were kissing a boy," Weiss added with a sinister grin.

"You wouldn't!" Ruby said flabbergasted.

"Try me. Now come along, you dolt. You'll need a good night's sleep for all the vigorous studying we have to do tomorrow."


	12. What are you thinking about?

"What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing."

"Really? Nothing?

"I'm thinking how if my wife keeps asking me questions while I'm trying to repair my weapon, I'm going to ask for a divorce," Weiss said without looking up. It was a lazy Saturday morning at Schnee Manor, with both Weiss and Ruby currently lounging in their PJs in the main living room area. Weiss was hunched over a desk using a stationary magnifying lens to make some minor adjustments to Myrtenaster. Even though she was semi-retired from being a Huntress to focus on running the SDC, Weiss had agreed to go on a hunt with Ruby to take down a nasty Beringel that had been spotted near Vale. Weiss was a bit rusty and though she deflected a broad punch from the beast, the Grimm's massive fist had bent one Myrtenaster 's firing mechanisms, which Weiss was now intensely focused on fixing.

"I guess this must be how you feel with me and Crescent Rose, huh?" Ruby giggled, flipping over to a new page of her comic book.

"I wouldn't go that far, as I never gave Myrtenaster my last name," Weis said, giving a mild grunt as she used a pair of needle nose pliers to pull out a bent screw from within the weapon's firing mechanism.

"Point taken," Ruby said with a slight blush. "Still, I'm glad you went on the hunt with me. I miss hunting with you. Reminds me of the old days."

"Indeed," Weiss agreed, placing the bent piece of metal gently on a cloth towel and vigorously wiping her hands. "I was fun getting out of the office for a bit. It was relaxing in a weird way," she added, shocking Ruby.

"Finding a giant zombie monster gorilla is relaxing to you?" Ruby said in awe. "I would have guessed it would just add more stress."

"Hardly," Weiss chuckled. "Grimm are easy, you know what to expect. They're stupid, dumb and violent and operate on basic instincts alone. A boardroom is different. They'll smile at you and tell you sweet platitudes but try to run you out of business at the same time. They'd sell their own mothers if it meant squeezing an extra thousand Lien into their paycheck."

"Never thought of it that way," Ruby mused, sitting back up on the couch to face Weiss. "I bet you wish you could use Myrtenaster on some big wig CEO, huh?"

"More times than I care to remember." Weiss laughed. "Anyway, I think this is fine for now and I need to go to town to buy some replacement parts. Want to come? I'll buy you lunch."

"Ooooh, you had me at free food, Snowflake!"

"What are you thinking about?"

Weiss didn't respond, immediately, but rather held up a single index finger to let Ruby know to hold on for one moment. She was engrossed in a book Blake had highly suggested she read, the latest in the Ninjas of Love series, 'The Sensual Shinobi'. Having finished reading her paragraph, Weiss sighed and slammed the book closed.

"Honestly, I fail to see how anyone can enjoy this. Even for smut, this is terrible. It's so bad it makes me want to take a vow of celibacy and swear off sex forever." she complained. Curious, Ruby snatched the book from Weiss' lap.

"It can't be that bad," she said, flipping the book open.

"Trust me, it can. Read any section out loud and tell me if that doesn't sound terrible to you." Never one to back down from a challenge, Ruby closed her eyes and randomly dropped her index finger on whatever page she had opened to and read aloud.

"She groaned as he thrust his weapon of sexual power deep within herpffttt-" Ruby snorted, unable to finish he sentence. "Weapon of Sexual Power? How can I get one of those?"

"Please, as if we need to relive the rumors about you and Crescent Rose from Beacon," Weiss said with a dismissive hand wave. But now Ruby was intrigued.

"Wait, what rumors? You never said anything about rumors?" she panicked. Weiss froze in place, unable to process anything further as this was not a conversation she had expected to have.

"It's nothing huge, forget I said anything." she said, "But back to the subject at hand, this book is so bad that-"

"NO!" Ruby interrupted. " I want to know what rumors people were saying about me!" she pleaded. Wiess sighed, rubbing her temples.

"Fine, if you insist. And it wasn't a lot of people, but several people back at the Academy thought that you and Crescent Rose were…intimate together," she said, watching the color drain from Ruby's face.

"They what?!" she screeched, standing up from the couch in the living room. "They thought I was…I was doing lewd things with my weapon?!"

"Well, to be fair, you openly called it your 'Sweetheart', carried it with you 24/7 and I even caught you sleeping with it a few times," said Weiss. Ruby stomped across the living room to where Crescent Rose was sitting in its rack and yanked it down, extending it into full Scythe mode, waving it angrily as she spoke.

"How am I supposed to boink this? It has a titanium alloy blade that's sharp enough to split hairs! I can't fit this into my…my….lady hole!" she bellowed. Weiss lost it, clutching her sides as she roared with laughter, unable to keep her composure.

"L-Lady hole? Really? Did you secretly write this Ninjas of Love book?" she coughed in between hysterical bouts of laughter.

"Stop it!" Ruby fumed, her face red with anger. "This is not funny! I did not have sexual relations with my weapon!"

"No, no, I know," Weiss wheezed, wiping tears from her eyes. "It's just…the phrase 'lady hole' is so just so, so terrible, Ruby. I love you, you Dolt, but sometimes you are just too much." Ruby grumbled something too low for Weiss to hear in response, closed her weapon and returned it to its rack.

"Still upsets me…"

"Of course and I'm sorry for bringing it up," Weiss said, calming down. Standing up, she gave Ruby a tight hug and a soft kiss. "But I just have to know one thing…"

"Hmmm?"

"If you were lewd with your weapon, would that be considered incest since it has the last name as you?"

"Oh, that is it!" Ruby yelled, storming out of the living room. "I want a thousand divorces! No, a hundred thousand divorces!"

"Ruby, wait, wait, hold up-" Weiss said, laughing as she chased after Ruby. "Just one second, maybe we can invite Crescent Rose in for a ménage-a-trios?"

"What are you thinking about?"

Weiss closed her eyes and let the room stop spinning for a second, her breathing returning to normal.

"I'm thinking how you learned to do that thing you did earlier…" she said, blushing ever so slightly.

"Heh, you liked that?" Ruby said smugly. "I read that in a magazine." Weiss pulled the blanket up to her chin and rolled over to face Ruby.

"A magazine, huh? I never thought you were the type." Weiss yawned. It was late at night and she would always get drowsy after a post lewd encounter. "I would have assumed you picked up your own bedroom tricks from comic books and video games."

"Well, if you want-"

"No, Ruby. I'm not wearing the Slave Girl Princess outfit." Weiss interrupted. They have had this conversation many times.

"Just once?"

"No."

"Not even for my birthday?"

"Still no."


	13. I thought you were dead

Weiss Schnee lay in her bed, her eyes locked on the digital alarm clock on her nightstand. It currently read 11:59 PM and it seemed like this last minute was taking much longer than sixty seconds. She sighed and sat up in bed, throwing her blankets off. She wouldn't need them anyway, not for when she arrived.

It had been about a month since that terrible accident when everything Weiss knew and loved had been shattered. Team RWBY had been called in to deal with a pack of Borbatusks and Lancers that had been harassing a small farm in the northern part of Vale. It was rare for the whole team to reunite, but when they did, it was usually for something serious. The Lancers had attacked fast and deadly and the team was briefly split up. Without thinking, Ruby ran off to a nearby cave and that was the last anyone saw of her for the time being. There was blood-curdling scream and when they ran in, all that was found was a blood-stained, torn cloak. No Ruby, not even Crescent Rose. The search went on for the next few days before it was finally called off. She was marked as KIA and that was that. That would have been the end of it there hadn't been that knock her bedroom window about a week or so ago.

At this moment, the clock finally rolled over to midnight, the alarm buzzing loudly. She shut it off, sighing to herself. No clue why she thought she would be going to sleep anytime soon. Like clockwork, there was the gentle knocking on her bedroom window which would alarm most people, considering Weiss' bedroom was on the third floor. She flung back the curtains and let the pale moonlight bathe everything in her room like it was gothic sunlight. There, floating perfectly in a cross-legged position and a sheepish smile on her face, was Ruby.

"Hey Snowflake!" she waved. "Can I come in?"

"_May_ you come in."

"Oh don't start with the grammar thing again," she pouted. "You know exactly what I mean."

"I do," Weiss said with just the tiniest hint of a smirk on her face. "but what if I said no?" Ruby frowned at this.

"You know the rules. I can't come in unless you invite me."

"I know, I'm messing with you, Dolt. Yes, you may enter." Weiss said as she opened the window. Ruby squealed with delight and darted forward, no rose petals as her Semblance no longer worked, and tackled Weiss to the ground.

"I missed you!"

"It hasn't even been twenty-four hours since our last rendezvous!" Weiss protested, struggling to throw Ruby off. She was much stronger now and it was a bit alarming, definitely something she wasn't used to. Ruby flipped backward in the air and resumed floating in her cross-legged lotus position.

"Yeah, but when you have to sleep all day time seems to crawl," she said matter-of-factually.

"One of the perks of having a vampire for a girlfriend," Weiss mused, flattening down the wrinkles on his now disheveled nightgown. Weiss wasn't kidding, however. After the initial shock of seeing her again, Ruby had explained what happened that dreary day.

The scream did come from her lips, due to the fact she had seen a large bat-like Grimm she had never encountered before. It moved so fast and so quickly that when it attacked her, she failed fending it off. After a brief struggle, it sank it's razor-sharp fangs right into her neck and drained her of almost all of her blood. What happened next was hazy, but Ruby did remember waking up in the darkest part of the cave but could see clearly like she had night vision, as well as having a host of other abilities that only confused her. It was with Weiss' help and a musty old grimoire that she had found tucked away in the back of Beacon's library, that they realized Ruby was now a vampire.

"Have you 'eaten' yet?" she asked, eyeing Ruby suspiciously.

"I had a squirrel on the way over and a badger…I think it was a badger? I'm not sure. Tasted like a badger." she said casually. Weiss visibly shuddered and gagged.

"I'm horrified that they all have different tastes to you," she said. Ruby merely shrugged.

"Not like I have much of a choice. Not like I can eat cookies again…" she sighed. An awkward moment formed between them, as each young woman knew what the next topic was going to be, but it would be a matter of who would ask first. Finally, it was Ruby who broke the silence.

"So….have you considered my offer?" she asked quietly. Weiss sat on the edge of her bed. One would think being a professor at the Pyrrha Nikos School of Higher Learning, most of the staff just simply called it Beacon, would give one a better bed, but no, it was same scratchy bed sheets and thin mattresses the students used.

"I have and I have an answer for you." she finally said. Ruby tensed up and floated down to her feet, stepping closer to Ruby. Unlike Weiss who was in her PJs, Ruby was wearing a refashioned version of her combat skirt, with the peasant top and black skirt with stockings and combat boots. Her old cloak carried too many negative memories with it after the 'incident', so Ruby had sewn herself a new one.

"And…what is it?" Ruby breathlessly asked.

"I thought about the consequences of my decision if I said yes. I would have to watch my family grow old and die. With Jacques? Well, the less said about that the better. There's a reason why I'm an ex-heiress and forced to take up work as a teacher. As for Whitley and Winter, that one hurts to think about, especially Winter. But I have to think about my _other_ family, specifically, you. We were engaged when all of this happened, just days away from our wedding. I thought you were dead. I thought I was a widow before I even said 'I do' and then I find out you're not dead…"

"Dead-ish is how I like to describe it." Ruby joked. Gallows humor helped soften the seriousness of the situation and she used it often.

"Yes, well, dead or dead-ish, it matters not. I can't imagine living a life without you Ruby, one way or the other. So yes, you can turn me or whatever it's called." Weiss said, expecting Ruby to plow into her with her enhanced vampiric speed, but instead, she quietly sat down next to Weiss and pulled her in for a hug, her silver eyes welling up with tears.

"Thank you…" she choked out in between sobs. "I know this couldn't be easy for you."

"I might reconsider it if your tears stain my nightgown. This is highly expensive Mistralian silk!" she countered, making Ruby chuckle deeply.

"Always my Snowflake," Ruby said.

"Before we begin with this little macabre ceremony, I have one request - tomorrow night, we confront Yang and Blake at their apartment in downtown Menagerie and we tell them you're alive-dead-ish. She has been tortured without you and you owe it to her to explain to her what happened."

Ruby glanced down at her boots, her face low and sullen.

"I know, I know, but how do you even do that? 'Oh hey sis, you thought I was dead but it turns out I'm an immortal bloodsucker. Pretty cool, right?'" she bitterly mused. Weiss shook her head.

"You are who you are, plain and simple. Your powers may have changed, but you're still Ruby Rose and you're still my Dolt. That's my one condition. Either you agree to it or the deal is off." she said firmly. Ruby hesitated, not making eye contact at first. When she lifted her head, her silver eyes were hard as stone.

"Deal. Tomorrow night, we tell them. And my Dad too." she added. Weiss hugged Ruby and kissed her cheek softly.

"Excellent. You may proceed. Oh and please don't tell me when you're going to do it. The surprise will actually lessen my nerves a bit…" she stammered, pulling down the collar and sleeve of her nightgown to reveal her bare neck.

"I promise, Snowflake," Ruby whispered. She licked her lips and tried to keep her emotions under control. She had yet to taste human blood and thought of it was kicking off some sort of primal instinct in her. She could hear the pumping of Weiss' heart, smell the sweet coppery aroma of her precious vitae, she could even see the blood rushing through her veins. She felt like an animal and she hated herself for it, but it was the nature of the beast. Ruby took a deep breath to get her raging desires under control and placed feathery soft kisses up and down Weiss' neck. Weiss shuddered, though whether it was with joy or fear, Ruby didn't know and didn't want to ask.

More and more kisses up and down her neck, following by a soft sucking that would for sure leave a hickey and even some gentle love nibbles. When she felt Weiss relax in her arms, her wiry muscles finally reaching a state of rest, she made her move. Like a snake lunging at a mouse, her fangs sunk deep into Weiss' neck with scary proficiency. Weiss gasped and groaned loudly, but she quickly threw a hand over her mouth to muffle it out. The sweet red nectar tasted like honey to Ruby and she didn't know if this is what all human blood tasted like or just Schnee blood since her family is so regal. More and more came up from the wound and she drank it all, feeling Weiss getting weaker and weaker till she finally collapsed on the bed. Her face was pale and sickly, with gaping holes on her neck dribbling what was left of her blood.

"Ru…by…." she moaned, her life signs fading fast. Ruby was a blur as she grabbed Crescent Rose from behind her and popped it's blade open. With one swift motion, she sliced the palm of her hand and winced a bit. She held her bleeding palm to Weiss' lips, her own hand shaking from a mixture of nerves and pain.

"Drink it, Snowflake. Just a couple of drops, that's all you need." she implored. "Hurry!"

Weiss nodded weakly and lapped at the blood like a cat with milk. She had a few tastes when the color slowly began to return to her cheeks, her crystal blue eyes getting their shine back.

"Oh it hurts…" she moaned, squirming on her bed. Ruby brushed some of her snow-white hair back and kissed her forehead.

"It does at first, like you have ants in the blood. That's just your body changing. Just ride it out, you'll be okay. I'm here with you, Weiss. Now and forever." Ruby encouraged, the cut on her hand had already healed. She took one of Weiss' hands in her own and squeezed it tightly. Eventually, Weiss' ragged breathing returned to normal and the groans of pain stopped. She sat up and rubbed her eyes in astonishment.

"Everything…is so perfect looking. I can see every detail and every little thing…and I can hear everything…for better or worse." Weiss observed.

"Yeah, it's a blessing and a curse. Trust me, you do not want to hear the things coming from Ren and Nora's room." Ruby said with a giggle. She helped Weiss stand, but she was quick to jump to her own feet and after a bit of practice, float upwards in the air.

"This is incredible. I am literally flying!" she said with childlike glee. Ruby smiled, so happy to see her beloved enjoying this.

"There's so much I can show you, but we can do that later. I'm sure you're hungry, so uh, you can feed on me if you want…" she said blushing. Weiss blushed too and floated back down to the ground.

"Well, maybe we can have some fun with it?" she smirked.

"Fun? Like how?"

"Well, for starters, you can lose the combat skirt…"


	14. You're never going to let that go

It was the grand opening of _Thunder Lotus_, Lie Ren's very first restaurant. The scene was one of the hottest places to be in Atlas at the minute, with a practical Who's Who of upper Atlesian society. Weiss had been more than happy to offer a small loan to Ren to help achieve his culinary dreams and if the turnout was going to be anything like this on a regular basis, she would be paid back in full in no time. Not that there was much of a rush, as Weiss made it clear to only pay it back if he could afford it. The SDC had seen its profits soar lately as public trust was being regained with Weiss in charge.

This opening night had the reunited team RWBY sitting at the Chef's VIP table along with Nora who was engaged to Ren. It was nice to be away from the hustle and bustle of the crowded main floor and their table was raised on a staircase overlooking the rest of the restaurant. Ruby was used to treatment like this after being married to Weiss for so long, but it was still new to Yang and Blake.

"This is so exciting!" Nora squealed. She had dressed up for this event, wearing a sparkly pink cocktail dress that kept her shoulders bare. "My Ren is finally a big-time chef! I can't thank you enough, Weiss!"

"Honestly, it's nothing," Weiss said with a modest hand wave. "You know we all go way back and it was the least I can do." Weiss was wearing an expensive pants suit, the color of which was a stunning ice blue that matched her eyes perfectly.

"I'm just happy team RWBY is back together again!" Ruby said cheerfully, wearing her Beacon Ball dress. It had been altered a bit as she became older and taller and put on a bit more muscle, but it was the only dress she owned and she enjoyed it too much to let it go.

Since the defeat of Salem, the forces of Grimm had been greatly reduced, but they were still a threat. No more Grimm pools were being created, but there were still hundreds scattered throughout Remnant and as long as people were capable of having negative emotions, there no time sit and rest on one's laurels. Ruby and Nora were the only active Huntresses as the table, at least full-time. Weiss would venture out every now and then to escape from the doldrums of the SDC boardroom. Yang and Blake had married and settled down in Menagerie, with Blake opening a cozy little book store that also served tea called _Tea and Sympathy_ and Yang had gone on to be a highly successful motorcycle racer, starting her own racing team known as the _One-Armed Bandits_.

"It is nice to be together again," Blake said with a tea sip. "It reminds me of some of the better days gone by."

"It wouldn't hurt to call us every now and then, sis." Yang teased, giving Ruby a playful arm punch.

"Hey, cut her some slack!" Nora interjected. "She's been busting her butt with me the past couple of days smashing some Ravagers that were messin' with some villagers in Vacuo."

"I know, I'm just messing with her," Yang said with a shrug. "Actually, I'm super proud that Rubes is one of the few full-time Huntresses left. It really shows her dedication to making the world a better place."

"If only she had that kind of commitment to doing her laundry on a regular basis," Weiss said with a sarcastic chuckle. "I've lost count of how many random foul smelling socks I've found lying around the Manor."

Ruby opened her mouth to object, but she was interrupted by the waiter. He was a young ram Faunus, with sandy brown hair and two elegantly curved horns, with eyes the color of freshly mowed grass.

"Hi, I'm Pan, I'll be your waiter today," he said with a warm greeting. "Welcome to Thunder Lotus. I see everyone has their drinks, are we ready to order?"

"Oh crud, I forgot to even look at the menu!" Ruby whined. "Um, everyone else go, I'll go last."

"Well, I know what I want!" Nora declared triumphantly, handing Pan her menu. "Gimmie a BBQ Bacon Bighouse Burger. Extra everything, please."

"Wow, no pancakes?" Yang asked in astonishment.

"Hey, I eat more than just pancakes!" was Nora's retort, though Pan shifted a bit because Ren had instructed him to bring her two big stacks of pancakes for dessert.

"And you. madam?" he asked Blake.

"Just the tuna steak, thank you. Oh, and another pot of green tea," she said, smiling as she handed the menu back.

"And for your wife?" Pan said, looking towards Yang. Yang was focused intently on the menu, her brow furrowing as she meticulously studied everything on the menu.

"You guys got any tacos?" she finally said.

"Um, I'm afraid we do not have any tac-"

"Yes, you can get tacos!" Nora interrupted, cutting Pan off. "Ren will make them just for you!"

"But we do not offer tacos…" Pan said, suddenly starting to regret coming to this table.

"He'll make them because I asked him to," Nora snorted, before leaning over and speaking in a loud stage whisper, "I'm sleeping with the head chef, you see."

"Yes, I'm fully aware," Pan said, now officially regretting coming to this table. "So I have one burger, one tuna steak…tacos and for you, ma'am?"

"Actually, I was thinking about ordering a pizza. Would you care to split a pizza with me, Ruby?" Weiss asked. Ruby's eyes lit up in excitement.

"You had me at pizza, Snowflake!"

"I thought you might like that. One supreme pizza, please."

"Hold the green peppers!" Ruby interjected. "What? They taste like crotch."

Yang opened her mouth to make a lewd joke but caught a sharp elbow from Blake that silenced her quickly.

"We are out in public." she hissed under her breath. Yang stuck her tongue out at Blake as Pan made his way to the kitchen, thanking his lucky stars he no longer had to serve this table.

"Well, hey, if you guys are gonna eat pizza, let's hope Weiss eats it a better than last time," Yang said with a laugh. Weiss rolled her eyes and sighed.

"You're never going to let that go, are you?" Weiss asked. Nora was confused.

"Huh? Did I miss something?" she said, putting her cup of extra strength coffee down.

"Oh, we never told you the story about Ms. Fancy Pants and how she eats pizza?" Yang said, enjoying the heat she saw spreading on Weiss' cheeks. "Okay, so remember back at Beacon when we had the epic food fight in the mess hall? Well, remember the next day when Goodwitch gathered the entire student body…."

**MANY YEARS EARLIER…**

"Would everyone please settle down? …thank you." Professor Goodwitch said sternly. The entire Beacon roster had been gathered in the Mess Hall, awaiting lunch. Normally there was a hot lunch ready for them, but this time there was nothing but empty tables. Goodwitch paced back and forth in front of the entire student body, occasionally slapping her riding crop in her hand. "As you are aware, due to the events from yesterday, much of the cafeteria was left utterly destroyed, most of which I was able to fix on my own."

"I think Yang is still in orbit…" Nora muttered under her breath, drawing giggles from her teammates. As if she overheard, Goodwitch shot Nora a withering glare that made the thunder goddess sit up straight and fold her hands neatly in front of her.

"As I was saying, the physical damage to the furniture has been almost entirely repaired, but all of the food is unsalvageable. Either due to spoilage or contamination, none of it is permissible to serve. "

"So what are we supposed to eat? Books?" Cardin yelled, his team snickering in delight.

"No, but that might be the first real contact you've ever had with a book, Mr. Winchester," Goodwitch said, her words dripping with venom. "Speak out of turn again and I will have you scrubbing this place in between classes. But in your caveman idiocy, you did bring up a valid question - what will you be eating for lunch? Professor Ozpin and I are not cruel and will not allow our students to go hungry, so we managed to dip into the school's resources and provide you with some pizza from Princess Pepperoni's Pizzeria."

Ruby's eyes lit up with joy.

"Princess Pepperoni?! The best pizza in the entire world!" she squealed.

"Princess Pepperoni?" Weiss asked confused.

"You've never seen the commercials, Weiss? There's Princess Pepperoni and she lives in the Pizza Kingdom and she fights the evil Garlic Wizard with the help of her Onion Knight and Mushroom Knight and-"

"I'm going to stop you right there, Ruby," Weiss said, holding up a hand to cut her team leader off. "If your idea of food involves a back story that rivals that of most fiction, I'm not interested." Ruby scoffed and pouted adorably, which meant Yang had to come in to once again diffuse the situation.

"Rubes can get a bit excitable when it comes to pizza, but it is pretty good stuff, though I'm sure it's not as good as the stuff you had growing up," Yang said diplomatically. Weiss blushed a bit, before regaining her composure.

"Actually, I've never had pizza before. It's not exactly something a proper young lady would eat." Weiss admitted sheepishly. Yang was shocked, Blake reacted with mild-amusement, but Ruby acted as Zwei had suddenly learned to talk in front of her.

"You've! Never! Had! Pizza?!" she said, standing up to grab Weiss hand and drag up to the front of the Mess Hall where several long tables had been set up in a row with numerous boxes of extra-large pizzas of various toppings spread out. Ruby was practically drooling as she nearly Semblanced to the front of the line.

"Two slices, per person!" Goodwitch yelled over the excited, hungry crowd. "Once everyone has had at least two slices, then we can discuss going back for seconds."

"So…many…choices…" Ruby said in awe, before deciding on a slice of supreme and a slice of Meat Explosion. Weiss had just a slice of pepperoni when a carton of little dough balls caught her eye.

"Ooh, are these profiteroles? Maybe this place isn't so tacky after all." she mused, adding a few to her plate. "They're awful greasy, though. And they smell terrible." Ruby rolled her eyes and giggled.

"Weiss, those are garlic knots," she said with amusement.

"Garlic knots? I see neither garlic nor knot, just a greasy ball of dough." she scoffed. "But I suppose I will give them a try."

The two girls made it back to team RWBY's table, with Blake and Weiss having already acquired their slices. Yang folded her slice up like a taco and began to dig it, Ruby flipped her slice backward to eat it crust first and even Blake nibbled a bit and chewed on her slice. Weiss, however, had neatly folded a napkin in her lap, carefully laid her silverware out (she always brought her own) and carefully sliced the tip of the pizza off before eating it using her fork, making sure to chew at least twenty times per side. After all, indigestion was unladylike.

"Weiss, what in the name of a Grimm's butthole are you doing?!" Yang demanded. Weiss swallowed her piece of pizza and delicately dabbed her lips with her napkin, before returning it to her lap.

"If I'm going to eat this 'pizza', I should at least do it with class and sophistication," she said plainly. Ruby scoffed at this.

"You're eating like a freakazoid and the entire school is staring at us." she moaned. Weiss was not phased.

"Good. Let them see how a proper person of etiquette eats pizza." she mused, using her fork and knife to cut off another dainty slice.

"Ugh, you're embarrassing meeeeeee." Ruby whined, snatching Weiss' plate away. "Here, let me show you how it's done," she added, taking her untouched supreme slice and offering to the heiress. "I bite the front, you bite the crust."

"Ruby, that is childish," Weiss complained. "I will not be doing such a thing."

"As your team leader, I order you to eat pizza like this!" Ruby snapped. Weiss sighed, knowing how stubborn Ruby could be.

"Fine." she groaned, taking the slice by the back and took a gentle bite. The crust was warm and doughy and soon she ate through that, taking another bite and another bite. Both girls were so into eating their pizza. that they hadn't noticed they met in the middle, their lips briefly touching.

"Ohmygosh I'm so sorry!" Ruby gasped her face now as red as her cloak.

"No, no, it's quite alright," Weiss said, blushing just as hard. "It was an easy mistake to make. I…certainly didn't object to it…the pizza that is. "

"I told you!" Ruby smiled, her skin tone coming back to normal. "But the green peppers kinda tasted funky…"


	15. Was that supposed to hurt?

Weiss watched with satisfaction as Ren took her wordless cue and leaped with amazing agility from ice peak to ice peak, slicing the Grimm with StormFlower into clean-cut halves, before they disappeared into a cloud of nothingness. Just as quickly as he appeared, Ren vanished into the thicket of Grimm, slashing and shooting them in a blur. Just as well, because Weiss could easily hear the snarling of an angry Alpha Grimm stomping up behind her. With a pirouette so effortlessly perfect it would make professional ballerinas weep, Weiss spun out of the way of the rampaging beast but swung Myrtenaster with her to slice the Grimm across its belly. It roared in agony as thick foul smelling viscous liquid spilled from its insides and it snarled in anger, ready to tear Weiss limb from limb. It never got the chance as with a pull of the trigger, a burst of fire dust engulfed the Alpha, sending into screeching agony before it burned to death and dissipated into nothingness.

"Wow, they really rolled out the welcome wagon for you, huh?" Ruby joked, appearing by Weiss' side in a poof of rose petals.

"Hmph, must you always crack wise in the middle of a battle?" Weiss scolded with half-seriousness. Ruby just grinned.

"I wouldn't be me if I didn't, Weiss!" she said giving a thumbs up and disappeared in another poof of rose petals. Weiss watched as a red blur sliced through the Grimm with ease, bouncing like a flowery pinball from target to target, eviscerating anything in her path. It was impressive, to say the least. Her methods were unconventional but Weiss could in no way doubt the effectiveness of Ruby Rose.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer." came Yang's voice. She spoke with a casualness like this was a typical Sunday dinner, though she had literally just finished snapping a Borbatusk's neck with her bare hands. Blake was behind her, picking off a few errant Beowolves with carefully timed shots from the broken Gambol Shroud.

"Does everyone in your family have to make wisecracks at inopportune times?" Weiss demanded. Yang shrugged.

"Must be in the Xiao-Long genes," she said simply. Weiss opened her mouth to make a snarky remark when her Scroll began to buzz with Ruby's ringtone.

"Yes?" Weiss said, holding the device to her ear.

"WEISS! Bad news! A pack of Grimm just broke through the front gates of Schnee Manor! You gotta get here quick!" Ruby yelled over the sounds of StormFlower and Magnhild's destruction and she quickly disconnected to join the fray.

"Looks like we better get going," Yang said firmly. "Lead the way?" Weiss' hand was shaking slightly as she sheathed Myrtenaster, though it had nothing to do with the Grimm, but everything about returning to the Manor. She had worked so hard to escape that prison of marble and glass and she was about to go back. And for what? To save Jacques? Whitley? For the briefest of moments, a dark thought popped up in her mind about leaving the both of them, but she quickly snuffed it out. No, she was better than that. She is a Huntress and she will show Jacques what that means.

"Follow me," she said, her nerves now under control and the trio was off to help the others.

Weiss, Yang, and Blake arrived to find a scene of what could only be described as chaos. Dismembered Atlesian Knights scattered the ground, their circuits and wiring occasionally sparking, their weapons smashed or discarded to the gutters. Jaune was fending off viscous swipes from a Beringel, it's claws clanging loudly against Crocea Mors' shield.

"A little help?!" he yelled to no one in particular. Nora and Ren were tied up with a massive King Taijitu, dodging both heads and getting in their shots when they could and Qrow and Oscar (mostly Qrow) were dealing with Beowolves who were clawing at the cast iron gates of the Manor.

"Where's Ruby?!" Yang demanded and as if on cue, the sound of Crescent Rose firing echoed as Ruby somersaulted to the ground, neatly landing in a three-point position as a massive Nevermore crashed behind her. "Never mind. What's the plan, sis?"

"First thing, we help Jaune. Weiss? Ice Flower!" Ruby ordered. Weiss nodded and cast up a massive, ornate glyph and pointed it towards the hulking Grimm. Ruby dropped to one knee, swapped out one magazine for another with expert timing, and fired off several ice rounds that were greatly amplified by the Schnee glyph. The ice blasts smacked right into the evil primate and it was soon covered in the semi-transparent sheen of dust enhanced ice. It wouldn't hold for long, as the beast was already straining against its icy prison, but it was all the time needed for Jaune to slice the creature's head off with a mighty swing of Crocea Mors. Both halves of the Grimm fell to the ground and wafted away into darkly colored specs.

"Thanks…" Jaune gasped in between breaths. "Did you check on Nora and Ren?" And as if to answer that, a huge explosion rocked everyone followed by the crack of thunder as Nora squealed with delight, bringing the heavy head of Magnhild right on the left head of the double-headed serpentine Grimm, causing the right one to roar in pain, only to have its throat slit by the handle of StormFlower. "Or that could happen," Jaune said sarcastically. "Weiss, have you checked in on your family?"

"Not yet," she said with a head shake. "We ran over here to answer Ruby's distress call and I haven't been inside yet. The gates are down, but the front door seems to be holding up."

"Go in and check on them," Nora added, walking up to the group. "We'll hold down the fort out here and won't let anything get in."

Team RWBY dashed up the curvy driveway to the front door of the Manor to find the heavy oak doors to be locked tightly. Weiss tried punching in the access code, but it buzzed for an incorrect sequence.

"Figures he'd change the code…" she muttered to herself. She tried knocking several times, yelling for Klein to open the door, but no reply.

"Don't suppose he left a key under the doormat, huh?" Yang quipped. "No? Then let me use _my_ key." and with a devilish smirk, the blonde brawler reared her cybernetic arm back and punched through the door with a thunderous crack. She fumbled around the other side of the door to find the lock and with a soft click, the massive door swung open. Weiss braced herself, half expecting to see shredded remains of her family or destruction and damage to priceless Schnee heirlooms, but there was nothing. At least, nothing out of the ordinary. There wasn't even a single speck of dust, as everything was in the right place, tidy and organized. The soft sounds of classical music seemed to be coming from the ballroom down the main hall. Wordlessly, Weiss began to walk towards this music, the rest of her team shrugging and following her.

If there was a war with Grimm outside, you would never notice it here. The upper crust of Atlesian elite society was making small talk, enjoying expensive hors d'oeuvres and drinking glasses of vintage champagne and wine, while a full orchestra performed. And there in the middle, surrounded by the same brown-nosing sycophants that Weiss had grown to loathe, was Jacques Schnee.

"Ah, the prodigal daughter returns." he mused, putting his glass down on a nearby table. "I was wondering when you would return. Come to your senses?"

"What…what are you doing?!" Weiss yelled. "There is a war outside, Grimm are attacking everyone and you're here having a party?!"

"Oh, the little dustup outside? Hardly worth noting. The SDC has been working on special Grimm repellant technology that masks any potential negative emotions. As of now, it's currently in the beta stage, but as you can see, it works perfectly. Of course, it would only be available for those are willing to pay the cost." Jacques said smugly. "You would know all of this if you hadn't abandoned me."

"Abandoned you?!" Weiss erupted with rage. "You imprisoned me! You gave me nothing but misery because I wouldn't obey your every word." Jacques said nothing, but reared his hand back and slapped Weiss hard across the face. The rest of RWBY, especially Ruby, immediately reached for their weapons, but Weiss held up a hand to tell them to stay where they are. This was her fight.

"Was that supposed to hurt?" she sneered. Jacque's eyebrow twitched with rage.

"What I gave you was a life of luxury, you ignorant brat! I gave you silks, pearls, diamonds, perfumes, money…a future with the greatest company in the world! And you forsake it all to play dress up with some underclass scum?!"

"You never gave me _LOVE_!" Weiss screamed with hot tears in her eyes. The mood had turned sour, the entire party now staring at this altercation. "And these 'underclass scum' as you call them? I would trust them with life. They are my family now, not you. Yang, Blake and especially Ruby, mean more to me than any amount of Lien you can throw at me, you heartless ghoul."

As if that were a command, Ruby quickly scampered next to Weiss, taking her hand in her own and squeezing it tightly. Weiss smiled warmly at this and, much to everyone's surprise including Ruby's gave the team leader a gentle peck on the cheek. Ruby's cheeks burned hot.

"Ladies. Gentlemen. You have eaten well. You have eaten Atlas' wealth. It's spirit. Your feast is nearly over. From this moment on, none of you are safe. There is a threat far greater than anything you could ever imagine and my friends and I will fight it with everything we have." Weiss said. "Come, Ruby. Let's take the rest of the team and be on our way."

"You expect to simply stride in here, disrupt this party, destroy my property and expect to leave?!" Jacques bellowed.

"Uh, basically?" Yang replied, flipping him off and popping on her aviators. "Later, gramps."

"You are going nowhere!" Jacques ordered. "I have the full might of the Atlesian military at my command!"

"Ha, that's nothing," Ruby replied. "We have a Nora."

Another loud explosion echoed through the manor, followed by a frantic conversation between Jaune and Nora from just outside the front door.

"NORA! You didn't have to blow up that statue!"

"It was looking at me funny, Jaune!"

"It's a statue it can't look any other way than what it does now!"

"So if you excuse me, _Jacques_," Weiss said, letting his name drip off her tongue with an acidic bite, "My friends and I shall be leaving."

And they walked right out of the Manor, leaving Jacques and the guests speechless and full of impotent shock. Weiss held Ruby's hand firmly in her own, as the sun began to set across the Atlas sky.

"You okay?" Ruby asked. Weiss rested her head on Ruby's shoulder and gently closed her eyes.

"Honestly? I'm better than ever."


	16. I can explain!

The Beowolf could smell blood and it made it salivate. Carefully, it stalked through the thicket of the Emerald Forrest, it's eyes never letting go of its target. She was human, female and completely unaware of the fate that was coming to her. The Grimm had seen it hurt several of its kin and it used it as a distraction to blend in with the foliage and attack her from her rear. Diseased drool dripped from his jowls as it inched closer. It could smell her life essence and the thought of ripping her artery out and guzzling down the sweet nectar within made it even more crazed with hunger. Closer and closer it stalked, ready to rip her and her red cloak to shreds. It lunged forward, teeth bared, claws outstretched and the human girl still never turned around. It would feast on her blo-

Out of nowhere came the heavy head of Magnhild, as Nora sprang from her hiding location and swung with all of her might. Her aim was true as the hammer connected with a solid shot straight to the solar plexus of the Grimm, sending it far and high into the air. Ruby whipped around and drew a bead on the creature.

"You get one shot, remember that!" Nora reminded her. "And if you miss, it's my kill to make." Ruby scoffed in such a way that it would make her wife proud.

"Miss? Ha, you're funny," she said smugly. Ruby lead the flying Grimm with her scope before firing a single fire dust shot where the Grimm should be and the two collided with perfect accuracy. The beast roared and slashed at the air in a futile attempt to save it's life as it's ascent arc began to wear down into a flaming plummet, crashing unceremoniously somewhere in the rocky hills. "A falling star! Make a wish!" Ruby giggled. Nora applauded, hoisting Magnhild back into it's transformed grenade launcher form on the holster on her back.

"Okay, okay," she said smiling "you totally made the shot. Looks like I owe you a box of cookies now."

"Double chocolate chip too," Ruby added, collapsing Crescent Rose. "You try passing off raisin oatmeal again and _I'll _break your legs." The two Huntresses shared a laugh as they made their back to the nearby town in Vale that had hired them to clear out some Beowolves that had been spotted. Nora was one of the few members of Ruby's inner circle who was still a full-time Huntress, so she was always willing to help out a friend. Weiss had sarcastically nicknamed them Team Sugar Rush, but both girls decided the name wasn't actually that bad and stuck with it. "Hey, you know, I was thinking about something the other day. We never really had super girly childhoods, did we?"

"Not exactly the best, though for different circumstances…" Nora admitted. "but I get what you're saying."

"So I was thinking…why don't you come back to the Manor with me and we can have a girl's night sleepover?! I never had one as a kid, mostly because I never really had any friends outside of Yang, but now we can have one!." Ruby chirped excitedly. Nora was giddy, but a thought entered her mind and she sobered up.

"Uh, won't Weiss have a problem with that?" she asked hesitantly, puzzling Ruby.

"Why wouldn't she? We're all friends!"

"No, no, I know that…" Nora said, "but Weiss isn't exactly…ya know…the sleepover type." she added diplomatically. Ruby snorted in derision and waved away Nora's concerns with a hand wave.

"Nah, she'll be fine! I've known Snowflake for so long, she definitely won't have a problem."

**LATER THAT DAY**

"A sleepover?" Weiss asked in disbelief. "Are we 15 now?"

"Told ya." Nora smirked under her breath so only Ruby could hear, but the Silver Eyed Sniper was not to be denied.

"Weiss, it's just for one night! We'll have a lot of fun! We can order pizza, watch terrible movies-"

"-do each other's hair," Nora added, interjecting into the conversation "talk about cute boys we like…well, uh, cute girls in you and Ruby's case." Weiss sighed and finished packing her briefcase, putting in a bottle of spring water and some unsalted peanuts to munch on.

"I'm not going to deny you your fun, Ruby, you know this. I was just a little surprised, that's all," she admitted, clasping the Mistralian leather parcel closed. "Unfortunately, I won't be able to attend as I have important business in Vacuo to attend to. I trust you two can manage to stay out of trouble while I'm gone?" Ruby gave a military salute, causing her and Nora to break down into hysterical giggles. Weiss rolled her eyes and sighed. "Gods help me, what have I gotten myself into?"

Ruby stood in the front doorway of Schnee Manor, waving with eagerness as Weiss' sports car drove down the twisty turning driveway and out in the street. When the car was nothing more than a dot on the horizon, Ruby turned to Nora with a huge grin on her face.

"Okay, now the fun can begin!"

**LATER THE ****_NEXT _****DAY….**

Nora and Ruby sat on the now ruined main coach in the living room area of Schnee Manor like two school children being lectured by the principle. The entire room looked like a war had broken out - Crescent Rose was fully extended and deeply embedded into the couch, Magnhild was lodged firmly in one of the walls, the couch itself was soaking went and burned while pools of water had accumulated on the carpeted floor. Not to mention the walls were black with soot and smoke, with various sniper bullet holes pockmarking the infrastructure. Weiss paced back and forth in front of them, her designer boots sloshing on the soggy carpet. She was taking deep breaths to try and defuse the nerves that wanted to explode.

"I can explain!" Ruby pleaded, but was silenced by a single index finger that was outstretched by Weiss.

"I'm not going to yell, but I am going to firmly, but politely, ask you some questions and I want answers. All of them. Let's start with the most obvious…why the bullet holes? Ruby?"

Ruby shifted a bit, feeling the damp fabric of the singed couch soaking through her blue jeans.

"Okay…well, you know that big box of comic books I have that I found back at the basement in Patch? Okay, so, Nora and I were looking through them and we were laughing at the ads cause they were so old, I mean they had stuff like rubber puke, X-Ray specs, itching powder, shocking bubble gum-"

"Please stay on track," Weiss said firmly. Ruby meeped a bit, self-aware that she was rambling again.

"Right, sorry, Snowflake. One of the ads was for an ant farm and Nora and I never had an ant farm before and we thought it would be really cool. But the company in the comic book no longer exists so we hopped on my moped and drove down to the Pet Store and we bought an ant farm starter kit." Ruby said quietly, fiddling with her fingers.

"That still doesn't answer my question."

"I know, I'm getting there! So we set up the ant farm and then we ordered some pizza and soda and we decided to have a dance party-"

"Ruby is a really good dancer, Weiss! …not sure why I decided to add that," Nora said bashfully, under a withering glare from the Ice Queen.

"…anyway, we were dancing and having fun and we got a bit too carried away and I bumped my butt into the ant farm while doing a little dance and the ants spilled everywhere."

"So you shot them?!" Weiss said exasperated. Ruby flinched and began to panic, but Nora jumped in to save the conversation.

"Well, Ruby worked really hard to try and gather them all up," she added, "but I looked at the box and it said we had bought carpenter ants by mistake and they eat wood and we were worried they'd eat your house down."

"So you shot them?" Weiss repeated, starting to get a headache.

"I thought I had ice rounds loaded!" Ruby whined. "But instead I had fire rounds and I didn't realize it till I fired a few shots and the walls caught on fire. When the fire began to spread, we panicked and hooked the garden hose up to the sink in the kitchen." Weiss rubbed the bridge of her nose and sat on the ruined remains of her favorite coffee table.

"Now I know how the bullets and fire happened, but why the weapon damage?" she finally said after a tense pause. Ruby and Nora shot each other nervous glances before Ruby finally spoke.

"We wanted to smash the queen. We figured if we could kill the queen ant, the worker ants would panic and leave. Just…I don't know, go to a new ant city or something." she admitted.

"But we didn't know what the queen actually looked like," Nora interjected. "But to be safe, we started smashing the ones we thought looked different. One of them had to be the queen, right?"

Weiss said nothing but stared both young women down with a glare cold enough to cause flurries in Vacuo.

"So…are you mad at me?" Ruby whimpered pathetically. Even as mad as she was, seeing those puppy dog silver eyes made Weiss weak. But still, a lesson had to be learned.

"Here is what is going to happen - Nora, for the next several weeks, you and Ruby are going to fix this living room. You will replace the carpet, haul the furniture, repaint the walls, everything. By yourselves. I, of course, will be there to supervise. And during this time, Ruby, there will be no lewd behavior until this is complete." Ruby visibly sank and deflated.

"Aw, no naked smooches? Don't be so stingy!" she complained, but Weiss held firm.

"No. No lewd behavior until this is fixed. Now, go to the garage and grab a mop. Your work starts now."


	17. Love is overrated

"Oh wow, did you see that?" Yang laughed, shoving handfuls of Double Butter Orville Reddenglocker popcorn in her mouth. "He took that guy's head off with a nine iron! How is that even possible?"

"I'm so glad you appreciate classic cinema," Blake said sarcastically without looking up from her book.

"Hey, 'Undead Zombie Golfer From Hell - Part Fore' is a classic!" Yang protested, fisting more popcorn in her mouth from the oversized bowl she had in her lap. "Besides, it has to be tons better than the smut you're reading." Blake's cat ears twitched a bit with frustration.

"It's erotica, not smut. Smut is what you read online about fictional characters having sex when there's one only one bed at the Inn, erotica is sophisticated and intellectual." Blake said mechanically, as this was a rebuttal she's had for many years now. Yang just shook her head.

"You're missing out, babe," Yang said with a giggle, leaving a buttery kiss on Blake's cheek.

"Great, now I smell like movie food," Blake replied dryly with a smirk. Yang was about to make a joke about Blake's lips soon smelling like movie food when her Scroll began to buzz, the custom ringtone meaning it was Ruby calling. Yang sighed over being blocked by her sister but answered the phone anyway.

"World's Greatest Sister speaking, how many I help you?" she answered, expecting Ruby to make a wisecrack and start some friendly sisterly banter. But instead, Ruby sounded very fragile, her voice hoarse like she had been crying and worst of all, she sounded scared and afraid.

"H-Hey Yang. Um, are you busy? Can we talk?" Ruby said quietly. Yang switched from Silly Wife to Protective Sister mode and paused the movie. Blake picked up on the sudden change in mood and wordlessly mouthed _'Is everything ok?_' to which Yang sullenly shook her head no.

"Yeah, I'm here. Let me go upstairs to my room so we can talk alone," she said. Blake gave a supportive thumbs up and sent a quick text to Yang's scroll letting her know she was there if she needed any help. "Okay, I'm in my bedroom now. Door's closed. What's up?"

"Love is overrated" Ruby sighed with bitterness into the Scroll, taking Yang aback.

"Okay, Pod Person, who are you and what have you done with my sister? That's something the real Ruby Rose would never say." Yang ribbed, trying to at least make Ruby smile, but she could tell by the defeat in her sister's voice it wasn't working. "Seriously Ruby, all jokes aside, what's wrong?"

"So there is much more stuff in this dang mansion and Weiss found a closet hidden behind this big clock, right? So we moved it and she found this jewelry box inside and I made a joke about how the necklaces were so ugly no wonder they were hidden…"

"And that was a problem because….?"

"BECAUSE the jewelry was her Mom's and she hid them from Jacques so he wouldn't touch them," Ruby whined, her voice cracking slightly. Yang visibly winced over the phone like she had been punched in the gut.

"Oof, that's bad. But you apologized, right?" Yang asked. There was a moment of silence before she could hear Ruby take a deep breath before she spoke.

"I never got the chance. Weiss got really angry and said I was being childish and demeaning and I said I didn't know they were her Mom's and she said it shouldn't matter, they were still something of her family's and then…I dunno, we kinda lost track of it and just started screaming at each other. She said something about regretting everything and slammed our bedroom door shut and I've been sitting here crying in the guest bedroom and…well, I just needed someone to talk to." Ruby murmured, barely keeping it together. "Am…am I getting a divorce?"

"Hardly," Yang said as comforting as she can. "Rubes, remember when I was 13 and you read my diary? Remember how mad I was?"

"Oof, how could I forget?" Ruby lamented. "I believe your exact words were that you were going 'rip my head off and bury me in the woods and not a single court in the world would convict you' and Dad had to pull you off of me. I think that was the day we discovered your Semblance too."

"Oh, I forgot all about that!" Yang said, laughing.

"I slapped you to get you off of me and next thing I know, you almost burn the house down because your hair caught on fire. You shoved Dad and nearly sent him flying through the wall." Ruby added with a giggle, her mood improving for the first time since the conversation began.

"Good times, good times," Yang said with a hearty laugh. "But my point is, I didn't stay mad at you for very long, did I? In fact, I apologized to you later that day, though I still wasn't thrilled you read my diary."

"It was so boring," Ruby snickered. "just a bunch of silly poetry and you kept going on about that boy you had a crush on."

"Ugh, Chen Lecnl ? So glad I came to my senses about boys." Yang shuddered. "Give me a girl any day of the week."

"But you're saying I should apologize to Weiss, huh?" Ruby admitted, her voice regaining that sad weariness.

"Look, Rubes, you know I love you and I'd never BS you or tell you something you didn't need to hear. You dropped the ball big on this one and you messed up, but now you gotta woman up and apologize. It's the right thing to do." Yang said. Ruby sighed again over the phone and sniffled a bit.

"She's going to be mad at me…."

"Yeah and honestly, she has every right to be. You insulted something very precious to her, Ruby. I know you're her 'Dolt' and she has that whole morosexual thing going on, but that doesn't mean you have a free pass to be insensitive about her family. Her Dad was a jerk, but the rest of the Schnees are her heritage, one she's very proud of. How would you feel if someone insulted Mom-I mean, Summer?"

"You can call her Mom too," Ruby said with a soft grin. "She was my Mom just as much as yours."

"I know, I know…" Yang admitted. "It just feels, I dunno, weird, I guess? Anyway, I'll do that, thank you. But yes, you need to apologize to her. The sooner, the better."

"Thank you, Yang. I know I could count on you." Ruby said, her voice regaining some of its cheerful chipper. "Love ya! Talk to you later."

Ruby hung up her Scroll and dried away any tears that had lingered on her cheeks. She sat up from the bed she was sitting on glanced at her reflection in an elegant full body mirror that was probably worth more than her house on Patch.

"You can do this, Ruby. You are a Huntress. You snack on danger and dine on death. You. Can. Do. This!" she hyped herself up, puffing out her chest. She marched towards the master bedroom and knocked gently, but hearing no reply, she opened it anyway. "Weiss? Can we talk?"

"Why? Are you hear to mock more of my family?" Weiss said bitterly, sitting on the edge of their bed, clutching a photo of her Mom holding a baby Weiss in her arms.

"Weiss…I'm sorry. What I said was totally uncalled for and I really, really screwed up. I'm so sorry. Snowflake. You're mad and you're hurt and you have every right to be. Can…can you forgive me?" Ruby said empathetically, her silver eyes pleading. Weiss hesitated and then all at once felt the anger flush out of her system like washing the dirt off her body in the shower. There was still some hurt, but she could tell Ruby was honestly sorry about that.

"You…are forgiven," she said softly. "But please be more mindful next time?"

Ruby restrained her urge to flying hug tackle Weiss, but instead just gave her wife a big hug and a soft kiss on the forehead.

"I promise, Weiss. I promise."

"Love ya more, sis!" Yang said, hanging up her Scroll. She stretched her neck as it was a bit sore from keeping her Scroll scrunched between her shoulder and chin and headed back downstairs to the living room. Surprisingly, she heard the noises from the DVD as she got closer and closer to the living room.

_'That's strange_,' she thought. '_I could have sworn I paused it?_'

When Yang finally turned the corner into their living room, she had to stifle laughter. Blake was crouched on the couch, her knees up to her chin, her golden eyes locked in mortal terror at the TV screen. She had at some point restarted the movie and was now glued to the blood-soaked drama on their flat screen.

"No! Don't open that door!" she yelled at the TV. "He's in there with the putter and oh no, he knocked her jaw off!" she moaned. "Why is everyone in this movie so stupid?!"

"Ya know, I heard curiosity killed the cat, I just never figured it would be the Undead Zombie Golfer from Hell who would do it," she said, catching Blake off guard. Blake fell off the couch in a heap, startled and spooked.

"Yang!" she protested, as her wife laughed so hard she was losing breath.

"Oh my gods, you should have seen the look on your face! It was classic."

"You are sleeping on the couch," Blake huffed, grabbing her book and stomping upstairs. She didn't mean it and both women knew it, so the empty threat was not taken seriously.

"Worth it!" Yang smirked. "Just be sure to check under the bed for any razor-sharp golf tees. He uses those to pin his victims to the floor!"

"I'm divorcing you!" Blake yelled, trying to hold back her laughter. Yang chased her up the stairs, arms outstretched and legs stiff, walking like a stereotypical zombie.

"Braaaaaaaaains!" she moaned. "I need kitttty braaaaaaaainnsss!"


	18. Watch me

"Wow, pretty swanky office you got here, Snowflake," Ruby whistled as she stepped foot into Weiss' new office. It had been several weeks since Jacques Schnee had passed away suddenly from a long struggle with a condition known as 'Dust Lung', the effects of which were primarily caused by the continued inhalation of raw dust particles before they had a chance to be refined and purified in the smelting process. Winter had surrendered her right to be an heiress when she joined the Atlas Military, Whitley was too young and even though Jacques had threatened to revoke Weiss standing as the Schnee heiress, he never went through so the company fell to her. After the paperwork had been signed, the lawyers paid and everything was settled, Weiss had begun the process of moving into Jacques old office at the very top of the SDC corporate HQ. "Ooof, it smells like old man, beer and cigars in here," Ruby said with a scrunched face.

"Yes, unfortunately, there are some things that need to be changed around here," Weiss said simply, throwing random knick-knacks from Jacques bookshelf into the trash. "but rest assured, I will completely redesign this office with a more feminine touch." Weiss was wearing a sky blue pants suit, but she had taken the jacket off and casually slung over it the high backed leather chair behind the desk. Ruby bit her lip when she realized she could see through the white button-up shirt and see Weiss' bra.

_'Focus, Ruby!_' she reminded herself mentally.

"And not that I don't enjoy your company, Ruby, but I thought you were competing in The Hunter/Huntress Games today?" Weiss said, scowling at a photo of Jacques posing with a bikini-clad model named 'Ms. Fire Dust' before throwing it in the trash.

"Eh," Ruby shrugged, reaching into her backpack and tossing a handful of gold medals on the desk. "The only one who came close to matching me in the Sniping and Accuracy events was May Zedong and she's good, but she's not me-levels of good. I got bored and left halfway through. Maybe next year someone might be able to challenge me."

"So humble," Weiss smirked, deciding to keep a globe of Remnant for her revised vision of the office. "Well, if it won't bore your video game addled mind, you can stay here at the office and we can have lunch together. But I have an important meeting coming in soon, so I'll need you on your best behavior."

"No problem! Business Ruby is ready to do a business!" Ruby said with a thumbs up. "I'll just plop right down on this comfy couch and you won't even know I'm here!"

"I highly doubt that, but I appreciate the enthusiasm," Weiss mused to her smiling wife. A few more adjustments to clear off the desk and she would be ready to begin the meeting. This would be her first big face-to-face with some of the movers and shakers of Atlas, some of them being clients of the SDC for decades. Weiss had big plans to reform this company and today was going to send a message loud and clear on what kind of future she envisioned for her grandfather's company.

"Mrs. Rose-Schnee? Your two o'clock appointment is here." buzzed Weiss' secretary over the intercom.

"Excellent. Let him in." Weiss replied while holding the reply button down firmly. The dual wooden doors of the office spread open and in waddled S.G. Hankerton, CEO of Hankerton Tech, one of Atlas' largest tech firms. He was a large gentleman, rotund in nature with several chins all covered in a wiry patch of facial hair. His suit seemed ill-fitting and the buttons looked they were ready to burst at any moment. A worn black cowboy hat sat on his pink and sweaty head, with his thinning black hair pulled back into a tiny ponytail nub.

"Mr. Hankerton, a pleasure to meet you!" Weiss said with surprising warmth. "I'm Weiss Rose-Schnee! Please, have a seat," she said, gesturing towards a wooden chair that Hankerton struggled to squeeze in voluminous girth into. Ruby carefully eyed the legs of the chair, half expecting them to snap and crack under such stress.

"I'm very sorry to hear about your father, sweetheart," Hankerton said, dabbing the copious amounts of sweat from his forehead with a monogrammed handkerchief. "Dust lung is a helluva way to go."

"Yes, unfortunately, these things happen," Weiss said simply. "Jacques shall be missed, but we have no time to dwell on the past. Let's get down to business, shall we? I believe you have a business proposal for me?"

Ruby had to stifle a giggle seeing Weiss in full control like this. Since Jacques had passed, Weiss had barely batted an eye, as did Winter. Whitley was a mess, breaking down several times during the funeral, but both sisters sat stone-faced, their ice blue eyes never wavering and crying. Hankerton blinked slightly at Weiss' bluntness, before proceeding.

"Ain't much for small talk, is you little lady?" Hankerton wheezed, the mere motion of leaning forward in his chair somehow winding him. "That's fine, I can respect that. Here, lemme show ya something." he grinned. Opening his suitcase, he pulled a small manila envelope and shook its contents on Weiss' desk. A small metal device, no bigger than an over the counter cold pill spilled out. "My team of eggheads and science-y types has been working on this since before you was born. It's a microsatellite with built-in GPS, ya see. You install it right under the eppy-dermis, that means skin in case ya didn't know, cupcake, right at the base of the neck. It uses satellites to keep track of the equipment in case they get fancy notions of runnin' off or something." He sat back smugly in his chair and folded his fingers together over his mountainous torso. Weiss stared at him for a moment, her face devoid of any emotion or expression and then she spoke.

"You had mentioned putting it under the skin of the 'equipment', yes? I'm curious how that's done, as our equipment is made from metal and circuitry." she said, her eyes never breaking contact with his. Hankerton gave a deep, hearty guffaw and slapped his leg with vigorous gusto.

"You kids today with your jokes and your pranks and what-not, " he huffed, wiping a tear from his eyes. "Your Daddy wasn't much to crack jokes, but I think you and I are gonna get along just fine, darlin'"

"I'm serious," Weiss said coldly. "What do you mean by 'equipment'?"

Hankerton froze, his face somehow becoming pinker and sweatier. His cologne was so overpowering that Ruby almost missed the smell of booze and cigar smoke from moments earlier.

"You know…" Hankerton said, suddenly losing his good ol' boy bravado. "them furry critters you got working down in the mines."

"You mean the Faunus? You want to implant GPS trackers on the Faunus slaves?" Weiss snapped, her voice so cold Ruby was sure it gave her frostbite. Hankerton blinked a few times, stammering on his words like his tongue had suddenly swollen two sizes too big for his mouth.

"I…I mean…if you put it like that, sure it does sound bad, but your Daddy knew how to do business, sweetheart and-"

"I'm going to stop you right there." Weiss interrupted, with a held up hand. "My name is Weiss Rose-Schnee. You may call me Mrs. Rose-Schnee, Ma'am or even Weiss. However, you may _not_ call me 'darlin", or 'cupcake', or 'sweetheart' or anything else gross and demeaning. Secondly, as of this morning, I freed all of the Faunus workers and the SDC will not only be covering their medical bills, we are also granting them sums of money to help them become reintroduced into society and get quality education and cover their living expenses till they get back on their feet."

Ruby watched as the color drained from Hankerton's face, his pencil eraser pink melting marshmallow for a head now the color of the bedsheets on her and Weiss' bed.

"I…you…you can't do that!" he said.

"Watch me," Weiss smirked.

"How…how will you mine the dust?!"

"Thankfully, we have an exclusive contract with the Atlesian military and they have a surplus of older AK-130s that will be reprogrammed to mine. A robot can survive in the harsh conditions of a dust mine with no need to worry about Dust Lung or any other ailments." Weiss said with smug satisfaction. "You are dismissed." Hankerton slowly lumbered to his feet, his face now red enough to stop traffic.

"If you already did something crazy like that, why in Remnant did you invite me here in the first place?!" he yelled, his sausage-like finger now pointing inches from Weiss' face. Weiss never flinched, nor lost her cool, but merely stood up in her chair and leaned forward to talk, but never raised her voice. It was low and powerful, like thunder rumbling off in the distance.

"Because I wanted to send a message to everyone else who did business with Jacques. The days of the SDC using slave labor are over. No more. I will return this company to the glory my grandfather had it set as, so that when people see the snowflake emblem, they know it represents something worthwhile. Now go, before I call security. I would escort you myself but I had a very expensive manicure done and I'd hate to ruin their hard work on such a flabby, sweaty mess."

"Never!" Hankerton screamed. "I have half a mind to teach you some manners, young lady! Why in my day, if a woman got as uppity as you, she'd be picking her teeth up off the floor!"

Ruby went to reach for Crescent Rose, but Weiss merely waved her off.

"I regret that it had to come this, but you leave me with no choice," Weiss said. Buzzing her intercom, she spoke to her secretary, "Janice, could you be a dear and send in security? Thank you."

"If you think some pencil neck pip-squeak with a dime-store badge is gonna tell S.G. Hankerton what to do, then by golly, you are stupider than you look, you ignorant bit-" Hankerton was saying, till a massive hand fell down on his shoulder. Slowly, the bellowing buffoon turned around to see the stone face of Yatsuhashi Daichi. Yatsu had been recently hired as SDC's head of security, a position he relished. His choice of attire, designed by Coco Adel of course, was an ink-black suit, with a pure white shirt and a thin black tie. Mirrored aviators hid his eyes and a simple white chord twirled from his ear to under his shirt. It didn't actually do anything, but Ruby thought it looked cool and Yatsu humored her by wearing it.

"It would be unfortunate if you were to continue," Yatsu said quietly. "If you leave now, there is no need for this to turn worse. Continue to make a scene and I will not be held responsible for my actions." And to drive this point home, he gave Hankerton's shoulder a firm squeeze that drove the bulbous businessman to one knee.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow! Okay, okay! FINE! You will regret this, I promise! Without my business, you will be bankrupt in a week! A month, tops!" he fumed. Yatsu was kind enough to help him to his feet but still kept his hand on his shoulder as he lead him out of the office.

"So, that went well…" Ruby said with a chuckle.

"About as good as expected. Are you still hungry?"

"Uh, duh!" Ruby said, giving Weiss a smooch on the cheek. "But watching you totally own that guy gave me a funny feeling. You know…the sexy kind." she giggled blushing. Weiss said nothing, but merely locked her office door and pulled the curtains shut, just in case anyone owned a telescope or a high powered camera.

"Janice, could you please hold my calls and cancel all appointments for the rest of the day. I am strictly do not disturb until further notice. I, uh, have some business to take care of…"


	19. I missed this

Weapons. Weapons everywhere. Weapons that cut, weapons that smashed, weapons that fired bullets and weapons that did everything in between. It was the largest weapons store in Atlas and Ruby Rose-Schnee was a kid in a candy store. Weiss knew better than to try and keep up with her, watching with amusement as her wife buzzed and bounced around from display to display, rack to rack, shelf to shelf, ogling over every shiny piece of destruction.

"Just because I'm paying for this doesn't mean you can go crazy," Weiss warned. Ruby gave a quick thumbs-up, before darting down an aisle featuring various polishes and lubricants for proper weapon maintenance. Ruby came to a halt in front of two large displays of two of the leading brands of weapon wax.

"Hmm," Ruby thought out loud, tapping her lips with her index finger. "do I want to get Tru-Glo or Ultra-Shine? Tru-Glo would make Crescent Rose shinier, but Ultra-Shine does a better job of buffing out scratches…"

"You realize you wouldn't have so many scratches on Crescent Rose if you were a bit more careful with it, right?" Weiss said, finally catching up with her Dolt. Ruby held a can of wax in each hand, studying the ingredient list like she was studying for a test back at Beacon so many years ago. "Using it to fight Grimm is one thing, but the pure shenanigans you get into with it is beyond me."

"Hey, you were the one who said you couldn't find the can opener!" Ruby protested, putting the can of True-Glo back.

"That doesn't mean I want you to slice the can in half with Crescent Rose!" Weiss said, still amazed Ruby couldn't grasp this. "The entire kitchen was covered in vegetable beef soup." Ruby giggled and decided to grab another can of polish just to be on the safe side and tossed both cans into a nearby shopping cart she decided to claim as her own.

"Yeah, but we ordered out for Mistralian that night and I know how much you love that," Ruby said with a pleasant smooch on Weiss' cheek. "So it wasn't all bad."

"Still had to mop it up…" Weiss muttered, finding it hard to stay mad at her. "Is that all you wanted to see?"

"Pfft, hardly!" Ruby snorted. "I wanna check out some of the scopes they have. I'm thinking about upgrading Crescent Rose's scope. "

"Didn't you just 'upgrade' it 3 months ago?"

"Okay, yes," Ruby countered "but that was such a long time ago! There is so much cooler stuff available, Weiss! You have to stay on top of this." Weiss playfully rolled her eyes and waved Ruby away, her Dolt bounding to the other side of the store where dozens of various scopes and laser sights were on display.

"This one looks nice," Weiss said when she caught up, randomly picking the closest Scope. "It has one of those red laser pointers." But Ruby shook her head.

"Oh no, no, you don't want those. The Grimm could potentially see the dot and move out of the way. Those things are so showy but they hardly ever work." Ruby said with disgust. "They're for chumps."

"Well, we wouldn't want to be chumps!" Weiss said sarcastically. "Perish the thought!"

"Exactly!" Ruby agreed, knowing full well Weiss was being sarcastic, but rolling with it anyway. Ruby fiddled with the hem of her cloak a bit as she slowly walked up and down the aisle at the scopes. She picked ones up that would interest her, roll them between her fingers, analyze the features and put it back if it no longer suited her needs. Finally, she found one and gasped in amazement, before frantically waving down a sales rep who was roaming the floor.

"Yes ma'am, welcome to S-Mart, how may I assist you?" he asked, a young rabbit Faunus with grey fur around his ears and silver human hair going down his head.

"THIS!" Ruby squeaked, thrusting the display model in front of him. "This is the NP-719 Ultra Scope! Night vision, thermal vision with up to one hundred times zoom! How much is this?"

"I see you have an eye for quality, ma'am!" the salesman said with a plastic smile. The NP-719 is one of our top of the line scopes and it's currently on sale for 1,340 Lien!"

Ruby's jaw dropped.

"Whaaaaa? I could buy an entirely new weapon for that much! I thought you said it was on sale?"

"It is. Normally it's 1,500 Lien, but we're having a special sale for this weekend!" the salesman said. "If you are a member of our Platinum Dust program, you can save an additional 5% and earn a free Fresh Pine air freshener!"

"I don't even own a car!" Ruby yelled. "I drive a moped! Why do I need an air fresher?! You're gonna charge almost fifteen hundred Lien for just one scope?! That's crazy-go-nuts!" she added. The rabbit Faunus, his name tag said BUSTER, merely shrugged. He wasn't on commission, so whether he made the sale or not didn't matter.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but those are our prices." he said, "I wish I could help."

"Actually, you could." Weiss interrupted. She had been standing behind Buster the entire time and overheard everything. Buster spun around to face Weiss, his ears sagging and his face losing color when he recognized Weiss Rose-Schnee. "If I'm not mistaken, this establishment is owned by Snowflake Properties, yes? That is a subdivision of the SDC, meaning technically, I own this franchise."

"Wait, you _own_ this store?!" Ruby asked in shock. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because I didn't want you to get the impression that I would be spoiling you with free weapons and gear, Ruby. I know you're a very proud woman and you insist on paying for your own ammo, gear and weapons repair. If I told you I owned your favorite weapons store, you'd probably stop shopping here, wouldn't you?"

Ruby opened her mouth to speak but snapped her jaw shut when she realized Weiss had a point.

"Now Buster, let's be honest, what is the wholesale cost on this scope?" Weiss asked politely.

"It's 412 Lien per unit. ma'am…" he stammered.

"Excellent. So this one time only you will sell this unit to her at wholesale cost. Only this time, however. Any other time she comes in the store she is to be treated no different than any other customer, is that understood?"

"Ye-yes, ma'am!" Buster croaked. "May…may I ring you up, Miss?" Ruby could only nod, as she was blushing a shade so deep it made her cloak seem pink. Buster rang the order up, bagged the scope and even threw in some coupons for twenty percent off her next purchase of one hundred Lien or more. Ruby gave a quick thank you and walked quickly out of the store and across the side of the mall to BurgerWorld for a quick bite to eat.

"You didn't have to do that…" Ruby finally said as she touched the order screen to customize her burger. Weiss scoffed.

"Nonsense. I may not be a 'Sugar Mama', but I will take care of you. To think otherwise is insulting." she said simply. Ruby paused for a moment, just staring at Weiss before engulfing her in a massive hug.

"You make my heart smile, Snowflake," she said. "You know…I missed this."

"You missed cheeseburgers?" Weiss asked.

"Okay, that too…but I missed us, just being us. No board room, no Grimm, just me and you."

"And you know what, Ruby? I would not want it any other way."


	20. I don't believe you

"Wakey wakey…" came the voice, echoing through the empty blackness. Soon there was light, but just a thin beam cutting through the darkness that made her head hurt. It was her eyes, she realized. She slowly opened her eyes, wincing as her head felt like it was on fire and the bright light pierced her retinas like needles. "Oh good, our Princess has finally woke up from her beauty nap," the voice said, echoing in Weiss' throbbing brain. "I'm so flattered she decided to join us."

"W-wha…? Who…?" Weiss groaned. She tried to move her arms to rub her eyes, but she quickly noticed they were handcuffed behind her, and her legs were tied to the legs of the chair. She tugged at her restraints in panic, but they wouldn't budge. The sudden shock of this news woke her brain to full alert, though the actual pain in her head was still sharp and constant. That voice had been Roman Torchwick taunting her, sitting just a few feet from her in a backward metal chair. Neo Politan sat behind him, eyeing Weiss as she sharpened the hidden blade of her parasol. "Torchwick!" Weiss snapped. "Kidnapping? That's low, even for you!"

"Why is it always called 'kidnapping' when adults are involved?" he asked to no one in particular. Neo shrugged and resumed sharpening her blade. "But to the point at hand, nothing is beneath me, Ice Queen. At least, not when it comes to Neo and I's survival."

"And how does kidnapping me ensure your survival? You're a petty thief and she's a crazed killer!" Weiss protested, still struggling against her restraints. Neo rested her fingers on her collarbone in a mock display of shock, as if she were saying 'Me? A killer?' before she broke down in hysterical silent giggles. Roman smirked and effortlessly twirled Melodic Cudgel to rest on his shoulder.

"Let me give you a bit of a history lesson. In this world, there are two types of people - the Haves and the Have-Nots. You're a Have, Neo and I are Have Nots. Your kind, the rich, the elite, the powerful, have all the shortcuts and blessings in the world they could want, but it's never enough, so they take from the Have-Nots. You call me a petty thief, yet the SDC is responsible for crimes that would get a single person sent to the electric chair!" he said, staring Weiss right in the eye. The point about the SDC hurt, as Weiss couldn't argue with it.

"I'm…I'm not my Father…" Weiss finally said. "I'm not responsible for his sins."

"Maybe not," Roman relented, "but you still benefited from them. Growing up in silks and pearls and perfumes while Neo and I struggled to even put food in our mouths."

"You rob and kill people!" Weiss yelled back. "That does not make it okay!"

"It's not about being okay, sweetheart, it's about surviving!" Roman said, pointing a gloved finger at Weiss. Neo nodded, her eyes never leaving Weiss.

"This conversation is pointless," Weiss huffed. "Ruby will be coming to rescue me any moment."

"Oh, if you think Red is coming to bail you out, you're mistaken. Red's dead, sweetheart. Your wife ain't coming."

"I don't believe you." Weiss snarled. "What did you do to her?! How did I even get here? I remember driving my car from the store and then there was a little girl who ran in front and I swerved and….there was no little girl, was there?"

"There was, in a way. Neo here simply made you think you saw a little girl version of herself. Her Semblance has gotten quite strong, I might add. I'm proud of my little ice cream cone." he said, planting a quick peck on her cheek. Neo blushed.

"And so I ran my car into a tree and you kidnapped me and left Ruby to die…" Weiss said quietly, piecing it together. "But why me?"

"Because there's a war coming, Ice Queen," Roman said, his mood suddenly darkening. "I was foolish enough to think that aligning myself with the winning side would be enough, but then it slowly dawned on me, there is no winning side. Not with her, not with them. And the worst part? Nothing can stop her. Nothing. You and your little friends and your wife think you have a chance, but no one does."

"So what does kidnapping me have to do with Salem?" Weiss said back. "You didn't answer my question."

"I'm getting there, sweetheart, patience. See, I realized that the only way to survive is to get as far as way from here as possible. Now I could go back to knocking off small-time dust shops, but that's not going to help get what I need."

"And that is?"

"Paradise!" Roman shouted, excitement all over his face. "A tropical island off the coast of Vacuo, completely uninhabited and ripe with lush vegetation and enough resources to last us a long time. The only problem is, the asking price for is it a bit too high for my liking. The billionaire who owns it won't let it go without full payment. And that's where you come in! Daddy Schneebucks will gladly pay an exuberant amount of Lien if it means getting his precious daughter back."

Weiss couldn't help but smirk at the idea of Roman and Neo somehow surviving off of an island in the middle of nowhere.

"I never pictured you the farming type," Weiss said. "But if this is your master plan, why haven't you enacted it yet?"

"Because I wanted to make sure you're awake to see this. Neo? Are we ready?" Roman asked. Neo had her Scroll out and nodded, dialing a number and handing the phone off to her Dum Dum. Weiss watched as the Scroll went through the motions of establishing a connection before the screen lit up with the face of Jacques Schnee.

"Who is this? How did you get this number? This is a private number!" he bellowed. Roman just smiled as Neo stood behind me, holding the blade of her parasol just inches from Weiss' throat, making sure she was in full view of the Scroll's camera.

"Good morning, Pops! Allow me to introduce myself - I'm the man who is in control of your daughter's life."

Jacques squinted his eyes and immediately scowled when he saw Weiss in her state of predicament.

"Hello, Father," Weiss said dryly. The elder Schnee just grunted in disapproval.

"Am I supposed to pay for her safe return? Is that how this game works?" he fumed. Neo held the blade even closer to Weiss' throat, stopping just short of cutting the skin. Weiss' nerves were on edge, but she didn't want to give them the satisfaction of them seeing her afraid.

"She's gonna go home, either way, Pops. The question is, how many pieces? One? Or several?" Roman oozed with a wicked grin.

"I do not negotiate with terrorists," Jacques said flatly. "And besides, despite her name and regal upbringing, I surprisingly have no daughter. My oldest decided to run off to play army and Weiss had decided she'd rather chase Monsters and marry into a poor, lower-class family than do what's right for our bloodline. This is a waste of my time. Never call this number again." and he hung up, leaving a black screen flashing 'DISCONNECTED' on it. There was a moment of silence as all three participants sat in absolute quiet before Weiss erupted into hysterical laughter.

'_And people say I'm crazy_!' Neo signed to Roman. Roman hurled the Scroll across the abandoned SDC warehouse that had been his makeshift HQ for this operation and kicked over a nearby empty crate, his rage and frustration bubbling over.

"You really thought he would care about me?" Weiss snorted with dark laughter. "You think Jacques Schnee would care about anyone but himself?"

"Okay, okay, new plan…new plan…" Roman muttered, now frantically pacing. "There has to be someone who's willing to cough up the cash for her. Do you have any rich aunties or uncles? No…hmmm…"

Weiss was still laughing when something caught the corner of her eye. It wasn't much, but she swore she saw a blur of red zoom past two stacked piles of rotting crates. She didn't want to get her hopes up, but the rose petals gently falling to the ground made her heart sing. Thankfully, neither Neo nor Roman seemed to notice.

'_Maybe hold the kingdom ransom_?' Neo said using sign language. '_Threaten to blow up a bomb and kill her unless the kingdom pays_?'

"Perhaps, perhaps…" Roman said, scratching his chin. "But which kingdom? Vale? Atlas? Definitely not Vacuo…"

And then like a flower-scented thunderbolt, a streak of red and rose petals blurred across the cracked concrete floor aiming straight from Roman. Neo pushed him out of the way and deflected Crescent Rose with her blade, her face now filled with anger. With a click, Roman aimed Melodic Cudgel right at Ruby's temple, stopping her from advancing any further. One eye was swollen shut, she had a fat lip and a large bruise on her forehead, but she was alive.

"Well, Red, it looks like you're alive, but not for long. Make one more move and I'll empty your head further than it already is," he smirked. Ruby ignored him and instead turned her head to look directly at Weiss.

"Stay calm. Snowflake. I'm going to get you out of here." she said defiantly. Neo rolled her eyes, as Ruby lowered the blade of Crescent Rose, but still kept a tight grip on the handle.

"I know smarts isn't exactly your forte, Red, but you are outnumbered. You should have brought backup, my dear." Roman taunted.

"Oh wow, that's a pretty good idea. Wish I had thought of that," Ruby said with just the tiniest of smirks dancing at the corner of her mouth. "Oh, what I did," she added. To punctuate this, a large metal garage door flung off its hinges from a mighty blow from Magnhild and standing behind it was the rest of the RWBY, plus Nora and Coco.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Tits McGee and the Broad Squad. If I had known I was having company, I would have made some delightful appetizers for you. Do you like those fancy meats in tiny plastic swords?" Roman queried.

"Who's Tits McGee?" Nora whispered to Blake.

"Yang. He's talking about Yang." Blake whispered back.

"Oh…yeah, she does have pretty big funbags." Nora hushed in reply.

"Nice hat," Coco said, keeping Gianduja pointed right at Roman. "Does your Grandpa know you're borrowing his clothes? Either way, I'd keep those hands above your head."

"I certainly don't want any trouble," Roman said, raising his hands above his head. "I guess I'll just go quietly with you to the police and serve mytimeUNLESS-I-THROW-THIS-SMOKE-BOMB!" and with a quick reach in his pocket, Roman tossed a tiny ball that exploded into a massive cloud of thick black smoke. With everyone too busy coughing through the mess and unable to see past their own face, it was Blake who could hear Neo rushing through the smoke and managed to get Gambol Shroud's and it's sheath up at the very last moment, deflecting her blade. Neo grinned and parried away, going to for a stab, but Blake countered with a spin-out of the way and delivered a solid kick to Neo's face that stunned her.

"Nora! Now!" she yelled.

"BATTER UP!" the thunder goddess yelled and swung with all of her strength at the pint-sized assassin. The heavy head of Magnhild connected and 'Neo' instantly shattered into what looked like thousands of glass pieces. "Oh my gods, I broke her!" Nora wailed. "I smashed her to pieces!"

"No, it's not her, it's an illusion," Yang hissed. "It means they're getting away!"

Yang and the rest ran out from the smoke to see a tiny airship piloted by Roman fly off in the distance.

"Goodbye, losers!" Roman yelled as he hit the thrusters and disappeared into the night sky. Meanwhile, back inside, Ruby had cut the handcuffs and leg restraints off off using the blade of Crescent Rose and absorbed her wife into a hug.

"How did you find me?" Weiss asked, wiping the tears from Ruby's eyes.

"Oh…" Ruby said blushing. "That was easy. You never logged out of your Rokeman Go account, so I just followed your character on the map till it lead me here."

"You guys okay?" Yang said, heading back in.

"Yeah, we're fine," Weiss replied. "Ruby cut my handcuffs off."

"Really? I figured she'd want to save those for the bedroom."

"YANG!" Ruby and Weiss said at the same time. Yang just chuckled.

"You two dorks are so perfect for each other. C'mon, let's go home."


	21. Being a complete nerd comes in handy

Business meetings are always dull, monotonous affairs. People drone on about shares, stock value, investments, financial gains and enough buzzwords to kill your brain cells. You would hardly expect anything interesting to happen, let alone a masked individual armed with dust infused clothing bursting through your twelfth story office window and yet that's exactly what happened. Weiss Rose-Schnee was in the middle of reviewing second-quarter profits for the SDC, when a costumed gentleman, clad head to toe in black spandex, crashed through the window. His face was in one of those wrestling masks that had holes for the eyes and mouth, but not much else. A long black cape sprawled around his shoulders, with a stark white X on his chest.

"Weiss Rose-Schnee! Doctor Pain has found you to be guilty of crimes against humanity! SUFFER!" he yelled and fired a blast of fire from the palm of his gloves, which had somehow been laced with fire dust. Weiss rolled out of the way, seeking shelter behind her desk and grabbing Myrtenaster from its protective case. The various suits and accountants ran from Weiss' office screaming, but the mysterious Doctor Pain paid them no mind.

"Who in Remnant are you?!" she yelled, loading various dust vials into the weapon's chambers.

"I go by my many names, but you may call me Doctor Pain! I am the punishment that plagues the guilty and punishes the greedy!"

"You're a grown man dressed as a giant condom!" Weiss countered, flipping over her desk as a distraction and firing a blast of ice that was absorbed by his flaming glove.

"You mock me, but it only fuels my desire to revenge!" he growled. "I will punish you!"

Thankfully, Ruby had taken the day off from hunting to shadow Weiss around the office. That mostly meant drinking unholy amounts of coffee from the break room, making paperclip necklaces and stealing kisses at inappropriate moments. In true Ruby fashion, she never went anywhere without Crescent Rose and it was only a matter of time before she sprang into action, Crescent Rose fully extended and locked and loaded as she had followed the source of the screaming and ran straight into the office.

"Step away from my wife!" Ruby ordered.

"You aide in her wickedness? Feel the taste of my wrath! For am I Doctor Pai-"

"Wait," Ruby interrupted. "Did you say 'Feel the taste of my wrath'? You stole that from The Masked Marauder!" Doctor Pain dropped both his hands, the flames dying out. When he spoke, his voice had lost the intimidating growl and was replaced by a squeaky, almost pubescent whine.

"No, no, Masked Marauder says 'Enjoy the taste of my pain' which is totally different than my catchphrase!" he retorted, but Ruby was having none of it.

"It's a still a rip off! I'm like the hugest Masked Marauder fan ever! I literally own every comic and have seen all of his films, including the gritty reboot with Spruce Willis! You just changed a few words around, but the catchphrase is the same." she said.

"Look, it doesn't matter who said who or who said what, what's important is that I get my revenge! My brooding, dark revenge is basically my entire character!" Doctor Pain complained. He stomped his foot in irritation, crunching on a piece of shattered glass. "And you are ruining my vision!"

"I'm sorry, what did you say your name was? Doctor Pay?" Ruby asked.

"No! It's Doctor Pain! I am the Doctor of Pain and my prescription is darkness!" he said, his voice cracking. Ruby sighed and shook her head in disappointment.

"That is such a rip off of Sycho Surgeon from Marvelous Comics," Ruby said with disgust. Furious, Doctor Pain punched a hole in the wall of Weiss' office.

"Hey, that's expensive!" Weiss protested, but nobody paid attention to her.

"It's completely different than Sycho Surgeon! Sycho Surgeon debuted in Fantastic Stories number 23 when Johnny Johnson was pricked by a radioactive scalpel and swore revenge on-"

"-the society that wronged him and is the arch-villain of Superbly-Awesome Man. Yes, I know! I own that issue in both Good and Very Good condition! Trust me, there's nothing original about you. You call yourself Doctor Pain, but there's nothing here to show you're a doctor. And why the X? That makes me think of the X-Guys but you're definitely not a part of them." Ruby snarked. Doctor Pain quivered with anger, shaking his fists. Weiss clenched Myrtenaster tightly, ready to attack, but instead of blasts of supercharged dust, Doctor Pain just continued to argue with Ruby.

"You are such a fake geek girl! You know nothing about the finer aspects of comic books!" he sneered. "The X represents my desire for revenge as if I'm saying my victims are going to be an 'EX' person!"

"Wow, that's a bigger stretch than CD comics rebooting Battyman to be the Jester's twin brother!"

"That as an Otherverse story, it's not canon!"

"Your face isn't canon!" Ruby snapped, sticking her tongue out. "And if you're a supervillain, what's your tragic back story? The Jester fell into a vat of radioactive liquid whoopie cushions, the Puzzler was cut by a radioactive puzzle piece, Commodore Chill drank a glass of water that had a radioactive ice cube…."

"If you must know, I want revenge for my father!"

"Ohh, a classic, I'll give you that," Ruby conceded. "What happened to him? A mob hit? Eaten by Grimm? Killed in a lab explosion? Joined the circus?"

"No, something far worse. Your wife, that terrible human known as Weiss Rose-Schnee….fired my father from this company! After ten years of faithful service, they stole his genius ideas for dust refinement and kicked him to the curb! Well no more! Doctor Pain will punish those who deserve it!"

"Wait, that's it?" Weiss said, happy to get a word in. "By chance, your father isn't Mortimer Happenstock is he?" Doctor Pain sighed dejectedly and pulled off his mask, revealing a shock of bright orange hair, splattered with just as orange freckles.

"I am his son, Eustace," he said. "You fired my Dad, you bankrupted our family and you stole his ideas! Comic books are all I know and I wanted to make you pay for ruining my family," he added. Taking great care to not step on my any glass, Weiss made her way across the ruined office and rested a comforting hand on Eustace's shoulder.

"First, I'm sorry about your financial difficulties. But secondly, your father is lying to you. I fired him because he was stealing company property and I don't mean paperclips or staplers, I mean expensive dust refinement equipment, laptops and more and selling them on SchneeBay for a tidy profit." Weiss said softly. "But I am a firm believer in not punishing people for the sins of their father, trust me. So Doctor Pain or whatever your name is, would you like to work for the SDC? You can start by cleaning this mess up and then tomorrow you can work in the mail-room."

"R-really?" Eustace said, wiping an errant tear from his eye. "Can…can my Dad have his job back?"

"Oh gods no, if he shows up within one hundred yards of his building, I'm calling security. But you? You are welcome here. Now grab a broom and sweep up this mess, your shift starts now. You can find the janitor equipment down the hall and to your left." Weiss said firmly. Eustace nodded eagerly in support and dashed out of the door and down the hall. Weiss sighed with exhaustion and plopped down on the singed remains of her office couch.

"I can't believe your ridiculous knowledge of comic books saved the day, you Dolt," she said. Ruby giggled and laid down on the couch, resting the back of her head on Weiss' lap.

"Sometimes, being a complete nerd comes in handy," Ruby said simply.

"Just try not to let it go to your head," Weiss said with a smirk.

"Why would I when I go to _your_ head instead? Hmmm?" said Ruby with a suggestive eyebrow wiggle.

"And what's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Weissssss! I'm trying to be seductive!" Ruby complained.

"Well, you are failing. Miserably. We've had this talk before. You lack your sister's _'talent'_ for innuendo and double-entendres. As someone who loves you, please stop trying to talk dirty."

"Right, I gotcha. Hey Weiss? With all this talk about superheroes and comics, I was wondering-"

"No, I am not going to dress up as Wondrous Woman for you in the bedroom."

"Aww, you're no fun."


	22. I don't owe you an explanation

"I don't owe you an explanation, or anyone," Weiss said matter-of-factually. "My decision is my decision." Whitley sighed and continued to fiddle with the tassels of a cookie print pillow on the couch he was currently sitting on.

"I know, I know, I just don't understand," he admitted. "You had it all, you had everything! Money, security and you're trading it all for her?" Weiss sighed in irritation and put her hairbrush down, frustrated that she was interrupted in her hair care ritual.

"Can you honestly say _security_ with a straight face?" she demanded, now standing up from her chair. "I was a prisoner in the Mansion and you knew it. Never allowed to leave, never allowed to have many friends, always smile and curtsey for Father's colleagues while Mom drank herself into a stupor. My only friend was Winter and when she left to join the Atlas army, I was stuck alone." Whitey recoiled a bit like a puppy that was about to be beaten for peeing on the rug.

"You had me…" he muttered. Weiss snorted in irritation.

"Did I? The rare times you did humor me with your presence were spent mocking me and letting me know much Father liked you better than me. 'You will keep the family name alive', he would say and you were oh so happy to repeat it to me." she snapped. Whitley recoiled as if Weiss' words like a punch to the solar plexus. He sat there on the couch in Weiss and Ruby's bedroom and said nothing for a bit, merely glancing down at his expensive designer shoes. "Are we done here or did you want to try and re-write history some more?"

"No, Weiss…I…I came to say I'm sorry-"

"Apology accepted. Now leave."

"Weiss, please…just hear me out, I beg you." he pleaded. Weiss considered it for a moment, before huffing and sitting back down in her chair in front of her bedroom makeup table.

"Make it quick. Ruby will be coming home soon and she gets hangry if there aren't an immediate surplus of cookies for her to devour." Weiss said, her arms crossed over her chest. Whitley stood up and began to pace back and forth, his hands tightly gripped behind his back. His brow furrowed in concentration as he tried to put the words together that were crashing into his brain.

"If you want the truth, the truth is that…well, I'm jealous of you Weiss," he said quietly. Weiss' eyes widened in shock before she laughed hard and deep.

"You? Are jealous of me? What on Remnant for?"

"Because you broke free!" he shouted, tears now streaming down his eyes. "You broke free of his control, of his lies, his manipulation and you found someone who loves you, someone who cares for you! You gave up fortune and fame and glamour to living in a rundown condo with an overgrown child and I don't under-"

_SLAP_. It happened hard and quick, Weiss rearing her hand back and cracking her brother right across the side of his face. Whitley's head rolled back, his cheek blazing an angry red handprint.

"Don't you dare come into my house and disrespect my fiancée!" she yelled. "If this is your idea of an apology, it's rather lackluster!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" he said, wincing as he touched the welt on his face. "I've been trying to, I don't know, better myself but the 'old me' keeps seeping through. I'm in a lot of therapy, Weiss." Weiss clenched her fists and exhaled deeply, trying to push as much anger and negative emotions as she can out of her system.

"You want to know why I'm marrying, Ruby? I'll tell you why. Since day one, when everyone else at Beacon treated me like a Schnee, treated me like royalty, Ruby was the first person to treat me as a friend. She gave everything and expected little in return, she was content on just being 'BFFs' and making me smile. She would ask if I was cold, if I was hot, if I was hungry, she would tell me jokes to cheer me up when I was sad or listen for hours while I raved and ranted about whatever was making me angry. She cooks for me, she defends me to anyone who would do me wrong. She loves me so earnestly and honestly that she doesn't care that I'm a Schnee. My name could be Weiss Coalfarm or something and she would still love me. So you want to know why I'm marrying her next week? That's why."

Whitley quietly sat back down on the couch and wiped away a tear from his cheek that had yet to dry. He exhaled deeply and closed his eyes, almost like he was in the middle of meditation. He exhaled hard and ran his fingers through his snow-white hair.

"You know Father is dying. Dust lung. Doctors gave him six months, at best."

"Terrible," Weiss said sarcastically. "I'll be sure to send him flowers."

"He's still our father!" Whitley yelled, jumping back to his feet. "You don't have to like him, but at least acknowledge his role in our creation!"

"You know the first time I spent the night at Ruby's house, I woke up that morning and smelled something delicious. I went downstairs and there was Yang, Ruby and their father, Taiyang making breakfast together. The radio was on, they were singing along to the songs…it was a sight to behold. Yang burned the bacon, Ruby's pancakes were a bit chewy and Tai's fried eggs were a bit too rubbery, but you know what? It was the most delicious meal I've ever had. They made it because they cared about me, because…because they loved me. In that single moment, Taiyang Xiao-Long did more for me than Jacques Alabaster Schnee ever did for me in my entire life. So not only do I not like him, I want nothing to do with him."

"But he's our family! 'Blood is thicker than water', Weiss! He really does feel sorry for the things he's done and he wants the chance to make it up to you, I know, he's told me several times. I've been visiting him every day this week at St Barbara's Hospital." Whitley cried, the tears coming back out. Weiss, however, was stone-faced and would not budge in her disposition.

"It's so easy for you to forgive him because you were clearly his favorite. Do you know why he had three kids? Because he wanted a boy and kept trying until he got the heir he desired. He groomed you to take over the SDC. He had no intentions of ever putting me in charge, but he humored me and lead me to believe I would be CEO someday. Hardly. You were his puppet, his toy, his clay that he could mold into his own twisted image and you fell for every single word. Oh and there's another part of that phrase, dear brother. '_The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb._' Jacques is not my family, you are not my family. Winter, Ruby, Yang, Blake and everyone else I met at Beacon are my family now." Weiss said firmly.

"You're still a Schnee, regardless of what you say or do," he said, his voice getting a bit more aggravated.

"Not for long. I'm taking her name, Whitley. Weiss Schnee will die so that Weiss Rose can live." Weiss said quietly. Whitley's jaw went slack, the coloring draining from his already pale face.

"I just…I don't understand! Father made his mistakes, but this is an insult to our grandfather who-"

"-who built this company with five Lien in his pocket and sealed the deal with a handshake or did 'Father' tell you more lies about how the company was struggling till he took over? Nicholas Schnee sacrificed his body, his spine nearly ruined by the time he was thirty because he spent every day and night mining for dust with no safety equipment." Weiss snapped, pointing her index finger right in between Whitley's eyes. Whitley said nothing, but his face soured in expression and his demeanor became stiff and wooden. The two siblings stood face to face, neither one saying anything, before there was a soft knock on the wall.

"Um, hi….am I interrupting anything?" Ruby said. Her combat skirt was torn and dirty, with a long scratch going down her left cheek.

"You're hurt…" Weiss said with concern. Ruby shrugged and waved off her concerns.

"Nothing a shower and a big tub of cookie dough won't fix," she said shyly. She wanted to invite Weiss to that shower but didn't want to be lewd in front of her brother-in-law. "Are…are we having company for dinner? Maybe we can order out?"

"No, I believe Whitley was just leaving. Weren't you, dear brother?" Weiss said coldly. Whitley grunted in annoyance and gave a tiny nod.

'Yes, no further point in staying where I'm not welcome. Enjoy the rest of your life, Wiess." he sneered. "Ruby, good day to you as well," he added. Ruby said nothing but watched Whitley leave out the door of their condo and disappear down the hallway to the front lobby. She closed the door, locking it behind her for a reason she wasn't quite sure of.

"Wow, that was…something. Is everything okay?" Ruby asked, hanging Crescent Rose on her weapon rack by the front door.

"Just tying up some loose ends, Ruby. Now, about that shower?"

"How did you know I was gonna ask?"

"I've known you for how long, Dolt? I know how your brain works, for better or worse. Come. Let's shower and then we'll go out for pizza."


	23. We have to be quiet

Weiss Rose-Schnee clicked her tongue in disappointment as she browsed TravelPimp dot com. Despite her best efforts, she was unable to locate any hotel, motel or even a quaint bed and breakfast to book for her and Ruby's trip to Patch for Taiyang's 60th Birthday party. She planned on using her platinum level Schnee-sa credit card to book the trip and earn double reward points, but there was no place to book a trip to.

"Honestly, this is so frustrating…" she muttered to herself. She was sitting on the comfy couch in the Schnee Manor living room quarters, her laptop rested neatly on her legs. Ruby was on the floor playing tug-of-war with Zwei using a squeaky hot dog.

"What's up?" Ruby asked, letting go of the hot dog that sent Zwei flying backward into a tumble.

"There isn't a single hotel or anything similar on Patch, it's ridiculous. There isn't even a sleazy motel! How are we supposed to book a trip if we can't find a place to say?" Ruby just laughed, making Weiss' cheeks burn hot with embarrassment. "And what is so funny?"

"This isn't Atlas, babe. Patch isn't exactly a tourist destination. You're not going to find any fancy schmancy hotels. Besides, we don't need a hotel! We can just sleep in my old room." said Ruby. Weiss bit her bottom lip a bit, somewhat hesitant about sleeping in her wife's childhood room.

"Are we sure there's no other option?" she asked. Ruby shrugged.

"I dunno, it sounds kinda hot in my book. OOH! Maybe I could get a rope ladder and pretend I'm sneaking you into my room while my Dad is asleep!" Ruby giggled. "Having another girl in my room? Unsupervised? _Scandalous_."

"Oh haha," Weiss droned with an eye roll. "I regret to inform you that we will not be fulfilling any lustful teenaged fantasies you may acquired over the years. I have no desire to be lewd in the same room you grew up in." Ruby cocked an eyebrow for a second, standing up to brush any dog hair off of her black jeans.

"Weiss, we were literally naked last night in your parents bedroo-"

"Do not remind me!" Weiss snapped. "I try to forget such things. And it's not my Parents' Bedroom, it is the _Master_ Bedroom. There's a difference. The head of the Schnee Manor always sleeps there."

"Riggghtttt, well, keep telling yourself that, Snowflake. But in all seriousness, it'll be a great time. Dad makes the best cheeseburgers you'll ever eat and it's really, really quiet at night. So much more peaceful than Atlas." Ruby stated, sitting down on the couch next to Weiss. "It'll be fun, trust me."

"Famous last words…" Weiss mused.

—-

"I have to say, Mr. Xiao-Long, this was quite the delicious cheeseburger," Weiss said, delicately patting her lips with her napkin.

"Weiss, I've told you before, you can call me Tai. You're my daughter-in-law, there's no need to act like this is an SDC boardroom." Tai pleaded.

"I've been telling her that since before we were dating," Ruby added "but it's no use. You can take the Schnee out of Atlas, but you can't take the Atlas out of the Schnee." Weiss blushed a bit, realizing she was a bit too formal. Ruby was right, in her own unique way. Years of being conditioned to be a proper lady had engrained in her what high society considered to be proper etiquette. It was a switch she found hard to turn off.

"Well, my apologies, Tai. I was raised to always treat a dinner host with respect."

"I literally grilled some cheeseburgers and corn on the cob," Tai said with a laugh. "Seriously, when did my daughters fall for such proper ladies? Even Blake called me 'sir' at first."

"So who is all coming to the party tomorrow?" Ruby asked. Tai smiled and took a sip of his Cold Mountain light beer.

"Well, Qrow will be there for sure. If there's booze involved, he'll be there. Plus, a few friends from when I used to teach at the Academy. Your sister and Blake couldn't make it, as they're both sick with the flu. I know she feels bad, but the last thing I want her to do is have her travel all the way from Menagerie when she's puking her guts out." Tai replied.

"What about…what about Raven?" Ruby asked quietly. The room fell silent and Ruby immediately regretted asking that question. She wasn't sure why she said it, it just came out of her mouth without warning. If it bothered Tai, his face didn't show it, as he just smirked a bit and took another sip of his beer.

"I wouldn't hold my breath," was all he said. "Anyway, you ladies ready for a movie? I'll make some popcorn!"

"A movie?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah, it's a tradition that when it's someone's birthday in our family, they get to pick a movie and the other two have to watch it, no objections," Ruby said, picking up the dirty silverware and plates and loading them into the dishwasher.

"Oh, that sounds like fun!" Weiss stated. "What movie will we be watching?"

"Only the greatest movie ever!" Tai said with excitement, holding up a dog-eared, beaten up Schnee-HS copy of _'Crazy Cop 3 - You Have the Right to Remain DEAD_' and waving it like it was a checkered flag at a race.

"That one?" Ruby whined. "Daaaad! We watch that every year. Can't we watch something else?"

"Nope!" Tai protested, already heading towards the living room. "You know the rules, Ruby. Birthday Boy or Girl gets to pick the movie and everyone else goes along with it. It's a tradition. Now settle in, Weiss, because your mind is about to be blown by the greatest movie ever!"

—-

_'The Chief told me I had to do this without being violent, that I had to do this by the book. Unfortunately for you….I'm illiterate!_'

"Oh, this movie is killing every last brain cell I have…" Weiss groaned. The movie was barely halfway over and Tai had fallen asleep in his beat-up reclining chair, an empty can of Cold Mountain dangling in his fingertips. Weiss sat next to Ruby on the threadbare couch next to the chair, both of them snuggled underneath a blanket to take some of the chills out of the air.

"Yeah, I've seen this so many times I could probably quote it word for word," Ruby admitted. "Trust me, it doesn't get any better."

"I know this is a family tradition and all, but are we obligated to stay here? I think I mentally checked out about twenty minutes ago."

"Nah, Dad falls asleep earlier and earlier every year, so Yang and I would usually just play video games till he would wake up and zombie walk half asleep to bed. But my GameStation is back at Schnee Manor, so we can't do that. Buttttttt…you know what we could do?" Ruby said, gently poking Weiss with her elbow.

"With you, I literally have no idea," Weiss said with a smirk. "I sometimes question what runs through that sugar modified brain of yours."

"You know…" Ruby giggled with a blush. "…me….you…upstairs…"

"In your bedroom?!" Weiss whispered hoarsely.

"No, I thought we would do it here in front of my Dad. Yes, of course in my bedroom, Snowflake! And you call me a Dolt!" Weiss blushed a bit, the idea of doing lewd things with her wife was always appealing, but it was always in the safety and security of Schnee Manor. Sure, a few times things had happened outside of the master bedroom, but it was still behind locked doors with no prying eyes and no one else in the mansion. But here in Ruby's childhood home? In the room she grew up in? With her father snoring downstairs? Her initial reaction was to simply say no, to tell Ruby to take a cold shower and save it for when they got home. But something Ruby said at dinner was sticking with her: "_you can take the Schnee out of Atlas but you can't take the Atlas out of the Schnee_." Maybe she was too uptight? Maybe letting her hair down, metaphorically speaking, of course, would be good? Even healthy? Maybe just this once… "Uh….Remnant to Weiss? You there, Snowflake?" Ruby said, interrupting Weiss' train of thought. "You kinda zoned out." Weiss said nothing, but grabbed Ruby by the wrist and lead her upstairs.

"We have to be quiet," Weiss whispered, as she stepped into Ruby's room making sure to shut and lock the door behind them. Tai had kept it maintained since Ruby first left for Beacon all those years ago. Posters of famous Hunters and Huntresses were haphazardly taped to the walls, the clear tape now yellow and brittle. Marksman trophies piled up on a bookshelf, along with a crude wooden scythe that Ruby had said was her training scythe for her lessons with Qrow. It was like walking into a time capsule.

"No promises," Ruby cooed and pushed Weiss backward on her bed, before practically pouncing on her. They two shared a passionate kiss full of love and tenderness and a burning desire to be with their soul mate. It didn't take long for Ruby to make the first move, toying with the bottom hem of Weiss' nightgown and struggling to pull it off in their current position. Weiss grunted with irritation and pushed Ruby up into a sitting position.

"Here, let me make this easier for you," she whispered and in one swift movement, pulled her nightgown completely off. She didn't wear a bra, which delighted Ruby, but she had taken the chance to wear ice blue panties that matched her eyes perfectly. Though she was no longer a full-time Huntress, Weiss kept in shape with rigorous training, including daily fencing lessons as well as hiring one of the top Yoga trainers in all of Atlas. Every inch of her body was a toned piece of perfection, pale and elegant like it was carved from the finest marble. The slender curves of her hips, her toned stomach with just the faintest trace of a six-pack, her perky breasts, everything was flawless. Ruby was practically salivating.

"…you're beautiful." Ruby gasped. Weiss blushed.

"Tell me something I don't know." she teased. Ruby growled like a wolf and nearly tore off her own tank top and lunged again for Weiss, kissing up and down her neck with soft pecks that grew in intensity till she was sucking hard and nibbling on the delicate pale flesh.

"Oh, gods Ruby…" Weiss hissed under her breath. "You know how much I like this…"

"Why do you think I'm doing it, Snowflake?" Ruby said with a predatory smile. She was practically joined at Weiss' left side, sucking and biting hard on her Snowflake's neck, her right hand sliding down Weiss' chest. Weiss would never admit it, but she was always sensitive about the size of her breasts, so it was always thrilling when Ruby would pay extra attention to them like she was now. Gently kneading them, squeezing them, even pinching the puffy pink nipples. "They're beautiful, just like you," Ruby whispered. Weiss could only moan softly, using all of her strength to keep quiet and not wake Tai downstairs.

Slowly, Ruby's hands reluctantly left Weiss' flawless breasts and snaked down her toned stomach and skirted on the inside of her thighs. Weiss tensed a bit and squirmed, letting Ruby have easier access. Ruby was sucking bruises and hickies into Weiss' neck, not caring who would see it at the party the next morning. If anything, it would be a badge of honor, a way to let the world know this was her wife and she loved her with every ounce of her being. Ruby found her destination under Weiss' panties and grinned at how wet her wife was.

"I love you," she whispered and slid a finger in. Weiss arched her back and groaned through a clenched jaw, her body wanting to explode but the circumstances not letting her completely relax. Ruby worked that one finger back and forth, working slow and lovingly before she snuck in another finger. Her angle and speed were perfect, something she had acquired with years of practice of being with Weiss. Weiss could feel it building inside of her, a roaring volcano that wanted to explode. And when Ruby rested her palm between Weiss' legs and begin to use it to rub, Weiss nearly lost it. "Oh no, no, no…not yet." Ruby giggled quietly, licking her fingers clean after withdrawing her hand. Weiss' chest was rising and falling. She was so close and Ruby had yanked her away, leaving her hanging on the edge of bliss.

"Y-you're cruel." she pouted. Ruby only smiled as she gently tugged Weiss' panties down her slender legs and threw them to the floor.

"I promise I'll make it worth your while," Ruby said, kissing Weiss' stomach and making butterfly, light, airy smooches down further and further till she reached the promised land. Ruby bent low and spread Weiss open with her fingers, getting her first taste of the night. Weiss groaned low, having to grab a pillow and smother her cries of pleasure into it. Ruby's tongue probed deep and by now she knew all the right places and spots to tease and lick. Weiss was squirming on the bed like an exorcist was driving a demon out of her, she was already close and this pushed her over the edge.

All at once fireworks exploded in her brain, sending off a multitude of colors and sensations that wracked her body and sent her spirit soaring through the cosmos. In her thrashing, she dropped her pillow and by pure instinct cried out the name of her beloved: "Rubbbbbbbby!" Ruby lapped up the love, happy that she pushed her Snowflake to the very limit. But the two lovers had no time to react before there was a knock at Ruby's bedroom door.

"Hey, is everything okay?" Tai asked. "I heard a scream."

Both Ruby and Weiss shared a look of mortal terror before Weiss grabbed Ruby's bed sheet and blanket and slung it over her, Ruby laying down and her head still between Weiss' legs.

"Can I come in?" Tai asked. "Is everyone decent?"

"Uh, yes! Please, by all means. Of course. You are more than welcome here." Weiss stammered. Slowly, Tai opened the door and let his eyes adjust to the darkness of the bedroom.

"Weiss? Where's Ruby?" he asked. Still sweating and breathing hard, Weiss was struggling to put together a coherent thought. Her brain was still frazzled and her nerves were still raw from the orgasm.

"She went for a walk?" she said, not meaning it to sound like a question. "Yes, a walk. She said she missed the quiet nights on Patch and she went for a walk. She should be back shortly."

"Ah, okay," Tai said. "Well, that answers my question. I'm gonna go to bed now. Sleep well, Weiss. Oh and Ruby? I know you're there, but just a heads up - the lock on this door is broken and no breakfast tomorrow, so you're on your own. I'll catch you ladies later!" he said with an impish grin and shut the door behind him. A moment passed before Weiss peeled back the blankets to see an ashen white, embarrassed Ruby.

"We are never living this down, are we?" she said, crawling next to Weiss.

"More than likely. And if your sister ever finds out, I will bury you alive, you realize." Weiss said sarcastically.

"Aw, I love you too, Snowflake."

"Dolt."

Both girls shared a sweet kiss, a tender embrace and fell asleep in each other's arms.


	24. You're trembling

"You're trembling…"

"I'm fine," Ruby protested, before loudly blowing her nose into her umpteenth wad of tissue paper. "Really, don't worry about me, Weiss," she added, before degenerating into a fierce coughing fit. Weiss sighed and pressed the back of her hand to Ruby's forehead.

"You're burning up, Ruby. You're sick. Stay home." she ordered. Ruby stood up quickly to argue, but wobbled a bit in dizziness and sat back down. She blew her nose one more time, throwing the snot-crusted tissue into the wastebasket that was close to the couch she had been laying on all day.

"Ugh, but I can't be sick today! It's the last day of Remna-Con and Spruce Willis is having an autograph signing!" Ruby whined, punctuating each word with thick coughs. "I was going to get him to sign my copy of the Try Hard comic book adaptation, mint condition, first printing! It would probably grade at an 8 or even higher!"

"None of what you said made any sense to me," Weiss admitted, but Ruby just pouted.

"It means that I'm going to miss a once in a lifetime moment because I'm stuck in this mansion with a stupid mutant cold-fever-something-or-other," she cried, coughing between sobs. Seeing Ruby so down and out just broke Weiss' heart. She had planned on taking a rare day off to go to the spa and get a desperately needed manicure and facial, but there was no way she was going to let her Dolt sulk in her own misery.

"Your pass can be used by anyone, right? I have the day off from the SDC and, theoretically, I could go and get that autograph for you…" Weiss said. She barely had enough time to throw up a glyph to block a lunging Ruby from tackling her to the ground. Normally she'd welcome these random love-tackles, but considering her wife was a walking germ factory, she felt it best to keep some distance. "I appreciate the emotion, but you can thank me by eating the chicken soup I prepared for you and getting as much sleep as possible."

"Thank you, Snowflake!" Ruby said as she gingerly made her way back to her feet. "I don't wanna get you sick, so…" she added, blowing Weiss a kiss. Weiss "caught" the kiss in mid-air and placed it against her cheek. She felt silly doing this, but it's something Ruby came up with and so she did it to humor her.

"And while you're at it, please take a shower. I understand you don't feel well, but laying down and sweating all day has not been kind to you." Weiss said, grabbing her car keys.

"Huh? No way, I don't smell." Ruby complained, before taking a quick sniff of her armpit but wrinkling her nose in disgust. "Okay, so maybe I could freshen up a bit…"

"See that you do." Weiss chuckled.

"I love you, Weiss. Thank you for doing this for me." Ruby smiled as she headed up the stairs to the master bathroom.

"I love you too, you Dolt. Now take a shower and get some rest. I'll be home shortly, as this should be easy."

Several hours later and it was not easy, not easy at all. The Atlas Convention Center was a massive building smack dab in the middle of the Atlesian business district. During the days when Jacques ran the company, it was a factory for the SDC to manufacturer GPS tracking chips to be inserted into the skin of Faunus slave workers. When Weiss took control of the company after her father's passing, she had the factory shut down and the equipment sold for scrap. After selling the building to the newly formed Atlesian government at a hefty price tag, it was quickly converted into an all-purpose convention center for corporate meetings, trade shows and _this_ \- whatever this was.

Weiss tapped her foot impatiently as she waited in line to get into the convention center, pulling her jacket closer to her chest to block out the biting cold wind of an Atlesian winter. The demand for the Spruce Willis signing was so large that the fire chief was only letting people in small increments. The wind howled and spun swirls of snowflakes into the air, hitting Weiss in the face and getting stuck in her hair.

"The things I do for her…" she muttered to herself.

"Did you say something?" said the guy in front of her, a tall gentleman dressed as some kind of robot that Weiss couldn't identify. His outfit basically consisted of silver glitter spandex, his face painted white, with what looked like dishwashing tubes hot glued to his face.

"Oh no, sorry, I was just talking to myself," Weiss said with embarrassment.

"Are you here for the Spruce Willis signing?" the glittery robot asked.

"Yes and no, I'm not really a fan, but I'm in line for my wife," Weiss admitted. "I honestly have no idea what most of these costumes are." The cosplayer's eyes lit up as he had been looking for an excuse to brag about his costume.

"I'm '6 of 9', one of the deadly Gorg from Star Track!" he beamed. Weiss blinked in confusion.

"That's…good," she said, wishing the line would move faster.

"I went to great detail to design my costume!" 6 of 9 said proudly. "I even watched every single episode he was in and used computer programs to perfectly match the exact shade of white for his pallid skin. It's Alabaster Bone, in case you were curious."

"Terrific…" Weiss muttered, peeking her head around the line to see if it was moving.

"Actually, if you have the time, I'd love to discuss some of my fan theories about how I think 6 of 9 will actually be free of his programming and will team with Captain Ricard to save the Confederation of Planets. Let me just pull up my slide presentation on my Scroll…"

"No, no, that's okay…" Weiss interjected. "I'm sure your argument is very compelling but it looks like the line is finally moving and I'd hate for you to get interrupted." 6 of 9 nodded politely, reluctantly putting his Scroll back in his HeX-Men leather duffel bag. Weiss wasn't bluffing, however, as the line did move and soon the SDC CEO was inside the warm confines of the convention center. The warmth from the industrial heating system pushed the chill in her bones away and she sighed with relief as she unbuttoned her thick winter coat. But that relief was short-lived as the line inside the building was just as long as the one outside. "Well, at least I'm inside now…" she thought to herself. "…can't be any worse than being outside in the cold."

"Dude, I'm telling you, the upcoming Nuclear Swan movie is going to be the bomb!" yelled a loud individual getting in line behind Weiss. He was wearing a tee-shirt of someone called Iron Lantern and smelled faintly of old cheese. His hair was pulled back into a ponytail, a greasy nub hanging limply off the back of his head.

"No, because no one cares about Nuclear Swan! She hasn't been relevant since the Clone Crisis story arc. It completely ruined her character!" his friend argued. A red costumed ninja-like character was on his tee-shirt holding up a taco and a sword. Weiss had no clue who it was and she had no desire to find out. She just wanted to get this autograph done and over, but the arguments between the two were getting more and more heated and obnoxious.

"Nuclear Swan hasn't been a mainstream comic book heroine since the Clone Crisis and you know it!"

"Okay, so the Clone Crisis was lame but we got Scarlet Swan out of it and she's pretty cool!"

"Till they retconned her origin and she turned out to be a mind-wiped servant of the Emerald Elf!"

"But that was such a classic plot twist!"

"It was a cheap tactic to save a lackluster character!"

"Your face is a lackluster character!"

Weiss grit her teeth and tried to block out the noise. Step by step, inch by inch, she got closer and close to Spruce Willis. She tried playing Cookie Crush on her Scroll, she tried texting anyone who would reply, but there was no service inside the confines of the convention center. And of course, she forgot her headphones so there was no listening to her playlist. Weiss was starting to envy Ruby in all of her mucus soaked sorrow because as sick as she was, she was at least away from these two idiots.

Finally, Weiss' turn was here and she breathed a sigh of relief. Reaching into her purse, she pulled out her platinum Schnee-sa card to make a payment, only for Spruce to sit up from the card table he was sitting at and wave her away.

"Sorry lady, closed for the day. My time is up," he said, sipping from his expensive bottled water. "I was contractually obligated for three hours and my time is up." Weiss stared at him blankly, her jaw opening and closing several times out of shock before she could process what just happened.

"I…I understand but it's been three hours and one minute, Mr. Willis. I just need you to sign something for my wife."

"She can come back next year if she wants. If you want something special done, you can call my agent," he smirked, picking up his glossy 8x10s and magic markers. Weiss recoiled and thought back on her poor Dolt burning up with a fever and how she went in her place and dealt with a never-ending cavalcade of loud, smelly idiots. Something inside of her snapped and she lunged across the table and grabbed Spruce by his expensive tie and yanked his face down towards her.

"The only thing I'm calling is an ambulance for you after I break every bone in your body!" she snarled. "I stood outside in the freezing cold and remained trapped inside in this prison of BO and nightmares so I could be a good wife and get an autograph! So unless you want to be eating from a straw, you'll sign this comic book and a few of those fancy photos too."

"Uh, security? Help….?" Spruce cried and soon muscular goons in cheap suits were rushing to surround Weiss. But she was ready and cast a glyph using her free hand, putting the crowd into silence. In truth, without any kind of interaction, the glyph was harmless but for a group of people arguing about the merits of Nuclear Swan, this might as well have been a loaded gun.

"Take one step closer and I'll…I'll summon a demon from the….from the Nightmare Realm to uh….eat his soul," Weiss said, coming up with this on the fly. "Now sign the comic and you know what? Give me your tie too. And sign it as well." she ordered, letting go of his tie but still keeping the glyph active. Spruce gulped hard and frantically signed three different 8x10s, the actual comic book, took off and signed his tie and even gave Weiss his expensive Coco Adel designer sunglasses, even though she didn't even ask for it.

"Please don't hurt me…" he wheeked. Weiss stuffed everything into her purse and grinned as she stepped back towards the door.

"No one follows me!" she yelled. "The Demon can smell fear!"

Later, after a frantic drive home in which Weiss checked her rearview mirror several times to see if any police cars were following her, she made it back to Schnee Manor. Twilight was breaking, the sun hanging low in the sky, as the final snowflakes finished falling. Ruby had showered and switched to her black PJs, playing Mortal Wombat on her GameStation.

"Oh hey!" she said cheerfully, her voice less hoarse, but still thick. "How did it go?"

Weiss huffed in exhaustion and unceremoniously dropped her purse on the couch next to Ruby. Fumbling around, she pulled out several autographed 8x10s, the autographed comic, the autographed tie and even an original Try Hard theatrical poster, all neatly rolled up and in a tube. She was going to keep the sunglasses for herself. Ruby's eyes lit up at the bounty and went to lunge for Weiss, but stopped as she remembered the quarantine glyph from last time.

"Weiss! This is incredible!" she squealed, clapping her hands with glee. "I hope this wasn't too much trouble. I heard on the news some crazy lady threatened to summon a demon or something at the Con."

"For you, Ruby, it was no trouble at all."


	25. I want an answer, goddammit!

"I want an answer, goddammit!" Weiss angrily shouted. Neither Nora nor Yang said anything but just looked at each other with ashamed, sheepish grins. Ruby was sprawled out on the couch loudly singing 'Baby Shark', slurring the words and cackling with inebriated glee. "Well?" she added, her arms crossed over her chest. Winter and Blake sat quietly in the living room with everyone, watching the scene unfold.

"Okay, so it looks bad-" Nora began before Weiss cut her off.

"Looks bad? It was supposed to be a 'girls night out' for her bachelorette but she came back absolutely Qrow levels of drunk! She gets buzzed off of cough syrup! How much did she have to drink? You were supposed to keep an eye on her!"

"Well, we did!" Yang protested. "But I guess she got bored and wandered off to the bar. The bartender told me she asked for a fruity drink and he gave her a Mistralian Iced Tea on the house." Weiss visibly grimaced as she knew full well the potent powers of that specific cocktail.

"And how many did she drink?" Weiss asked, already dreading the answer.

"Thirty….teen! No, no, wait…it was….eight, nine, ten…a big fat hen!" Ruby giggled in reply.

"At least two because the first one was on the house and the second one was on my tab," Yang said, trying to look past Blake's disappointed stare. "Honestly, Nora and I didn't even drink that much, we just kinda danced the night away. I had maybe a drink or two, that's it."

"How very responsible of you," Winter said with dry sarcasm. "You must be proud."

"We ain't Sister in Laws yet, Winter," Yang said with a scowl. "Don't push me."

"ENOUGH!" Weiss yelled, throwing her hands up to stop the argument. "I had planned on having a quiet bachelorette party but it looks like they won't happen." Though Yang and Nora had taken Ruby out dancing, Blake and Winter and joined Weiss for her bachelorette party, a quiet night at Schnee Manor with a fondue pot and various expensive wines.

"Oh yeah, the fondue. More like fon-don't." Yang joked, causing Nora to snicker hysterically. Weiss shot Yang a withering glare and the blonde brawler immediately silenced, though Nora was snorting trying to hold back her giggles.

"Please tell me you didn't ride Bumblebee over here…" Blake said with worry as she put on her jacket. Yang just smiled and shook her head no.

"Nah, babe, we took a Ninja Taxi there and back. " Yang said proudly. "I mean, I'm not drunk, but I'm a bit too buzzed to be driving."

"Heyyyyy!" Ruby interrupted. "I just realized…my name and our team name is the same!"

"Oh, gods…" Weiss moaned, rubbing her temples.

"It would appear that this night is over," Winter said with disappointment. "Mrs. Ren, do you require a ride home?" Nora blinked for a second as if Winter was speaking a foreign language to her. Unlike Yang who had stopped after a few cocktails, Nora kept hammering down her preferred drink of choice, a shot of Mistralian rum with a splash of maple syrup, she called it the Sexy Pancake, and was way beyond the point of inebriation.

"Huh?" she slurred. "Ren? Ren's not here." Winter sighed and rubbed her own temples and Yang had to withhold her own giggle seeing how similar it was to Weiss.

"Do. You. Need. A. Ride. Home?" Winter practically yelled, slow and loud. Nora's flushed face perked with excitement, as she finally was able to piece together what had been asked of her.

"Oh yeah, for sure! My Scroll is dead, so I can't call Ren…" Nora said blushing, but it was hard to tell with her face so red from alcohol. Winter grabbed her purse and fumbled a bit before she found her car keys.

"Then let's go. I will warn you, if you vomit inside this car, there will be consequences," she said sternly, but Nora just stumbled behind the elder Schnee, Blake and Yang not far behind.

"Did you at least have a good time?" Blake asked, sliding her jacket on. Yang grinned and gave a thumbs up.

"Some guy tried to hit on Nora and when we said we weren't interested, he kept chasing us, so I broke his nose!" Yang said proudly. Blake just smirked and shook her head.

"At least the cops weren't called this time."

Weiss waved goodbye as Blake pulled out of the driveway with Yang in the passenger seat, and a frustrated Winter drove off in her own car as a drunk Nora was loudly babbling about her favorite types of maple syrup. That just left her Dolt who was currently completely unconscious on the couch, snoring like a rusty chainsaw.

"Ruby…Ruby…wake up…" Weiss said, gently shaking her fiancé. Ruby didn't respond at first, just snoring loudly, so Weiss had to shake a bit harder. "Ruby! Wake! Up!"

Ruby's silver eyes shot open and she sat straight up on the couch, her face a mask of panic.

"WEISS! I…I forgot to study for the Advanced Dust Placement test! Oh, gods, oh gods, Oobleck is gonna fail me and I'm gonna be held back andohgods why is the room spinning…" she said, clutching her head and tightly closing her eyes. Sighing heavily, Weiss grabbed Ruby by the wrist and gently hoisted her up, looping her arm around her shoulders to steady her drunken partner.

"First, we haven't been in Beacon for over ten years and secondly, you're drunk, Ruby. We're going to get you in your PJs and you are going to bed." Weiss said firmly, helping Ruby up the master staircase. It was slower than she would like, as Ruby kept stumbling and tripping and there was a panicked moment where she felt like she was going to throw up, but it was a false alarm, much to Weiss' delight. Finally, they made it to the master bedroom where Ruby fell backward on to the elegant king-sized mattress, arms outstretched on each side.

"I can't believe you had so many Mistralian Ice Teas…" Weiss grumbled as she rummaged through Ruby's side of the dresser to find her PJs. Ruby just gave a sloppy giggle and laughed.

"I didn't know they were so fruity!" she wheezed. "I had one and the bartender bought me another and then I had another and another and another and another and-"

"Yes, I get the point." Wiess interrupted sharply. "Stand up, please, and turn around." Ruby spun around a full three hundred and sixty degrees and snickered. "I meant, show me your back!" Weiss snapped. Ruby nodded with an over-enthusiastic thumbs up and presented her back to Weiss allowing her to unzip her black and red dress.

"Ooooh, getting me undressed, ma'am?" Ruby drunkenly cooed.

"Hardly. I'm getting you ready for bed."

"Oh, I'm ready for bed-"

"To sleep, you dolt. If you think for one second I'm going to indulge any lewd behavior while you're drunk, you are sorely mistaken." Weiss huffed, helping Ruby step out of the dress till she was down to just her bra and panties. "Here, put these on," she added, handing Ruby a simple black tank top and a pair of boy's boxer shorts that Ruby used as comfortable PJs. It took a few moments of awkward fumbling for Ruby to get into her PJs before Weiss had managed to coax her into bed and under the blankets. She was about to shut the lights off when Ruby began to sob gently. "Do you need me to get some Bepto Pismol or something?" she asked, thinking Ruby was crying due to the booze, but such was not the case.

"I'm going to be a terrible wife…" Ruby said in between bitter sobs. Weiss mood greatly softened, as she sat next to Ruby on her side of the bed.

"And what filled your head with this nonsense?" she said. Ruby sniffed and loudly blew her nose, tossing the dirty Kleenex on the floor in a drunken stupor.

"Because you're so fancy and I'm not. I grew up on a farm kindof-sortof and you grew up in this fancy mansion. You know what forks to use and when to bow or say thank you or what wine goes with fish or steak or chicken or pasta or whatever. I don't. I'm going to embarrass you in fancy dinners cause I'm low class." Ruby rambled. Wiess shook her head and brushed some of Ruby's hair behind her ears, giving her forehead a gentle kiss.

"Listen to me. Do not say things like this. Do you understand? You are not low class and you are not going to embarrass me. You are my future wife and I love you. A Schnee does not venture into anything if they have doubts or regrets of any kind and that should tell you how I feel about this relationship. I'm marrying you because you are my joy, you are my heart, you are my laughter."

"You're…you're just saying that…" Ruby muttered, wiping tears from her eyes. Weiss lifted Ruby's chin up with two fingers and looked her dead on, crystal blue eyes to shimmering silver eyes.

"If I were bothered by your lack of social etiquette, I'd have married some of the milquetoast stiffs Father would try to set me up with. Just an endless sea of polos and sweaters tied around the neck. It was terrible. No, I love you because you are so undoubtedly _you_. You leave cookie crumbs in the bed, you have an unhealthy obsession with weapons, you snore and these are all things I love about you, you dolt. If you were any different, you wouldn't be Ruby Rose and Ruby Rose is who I fell in love with."

Weiss instinctively gave Ruby a soft peck on the lips but grimaced at the taste of cheap liquor that still lingered there. Ruby's tears appeared to have stopped, though she still looked uneasy.

"Ruby, I'm telling you, you have nothing to worry about." Weiss pleaded, but Ruby just shook her head.

"No, no, I believe you, Weiss. I just…I think I have to puke."


	26. It was you all along

Sweetheart Day was a big deal around the Beacon campus as it was the traditional holiday when someone would buy a single rose for their secret crush to confess their feelings to. For Weiss and Yang, the day had been rather uneventful, much to Yang's disappointment and Weiss' relief. The RWBY teammates were heading back to their dorm after a quick sparring session, when they bumped into Pyrrha carrying an armload of roses.

"Wow, really popular this year…" Yang mused.

"Yes, well…it seems as if though there are lots of suitors who are interested in me," Pyrrha said bashfully. "I really had no idea I was this popular."

"Pfft, you're a total hottie!" Yang protested. "But the real question is, with all those roses, did you get the one from the person you really want it from?" she also asked, making Pyrrha blush as red as her scarlet hair.

"Well, um…I-I don't really know…I don't think so…" she stammered.

"Better you than me…" Weiss muttered under her breath. Pyrrha didn't seem to hear it, but Yang certainly did.

"I'm sure he'll come to his senses," Yang said encouragingly. "He's not that dense…"

"Jaune is…free to follow his own path," was Pyrrha's diplomatic answer. Weiss just rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Even Fox can see how bad you have it for him," she added.

"Weiss! That's terrible!" Pyrrha countered, but Weiss merely shook her head.

"No, he literally can hear the change in your breathing and heartbeat whenever he's near. It's a bit disturbing, actually."

"Well…has anyone sent you any flowers?" countered Pyrrha, eager to change the subject. Jaune was still a touchy subject for her and despite Nora's urging, she had kept her feeling mostly to herself.

"Blake sent me one!" Yang beamed with pride. "And Cardin too, but I threw that one in the trash."

"And you, Weiss?" Pyrrha asked, but Weiss shrugged.

"No and frankly, I'm completely fine with that. I have no time to romance as it interferes with my Huntress studies." she said matter-of-factly, but Yang was not convinced.

"Riggggjttt. I think someone is just a bit salty that no cute boys have sent her any flowers." she said with a mischievous smirk. Weiss scurnched her face with irritation and with a self-righteous "Hmmph!" marched past Pyrrha and Yang straight to the RWBY dorm room. However, much to her surprise, when she swung the door open there was a single white rose laying on her pillow.

"Well I'll be a Grimm's butt…" Yang said with a big smile "looks like the Ice Queen has a secret admirer after all!"

Weiss' face contorted into shock and horror as he mind began to relay worst case scenarios on who her secret admirer could be - maybe Jaune fell back into old habits? Cardin? ….Professor Port?! Her stomach was in knots as she sat on the edge of her makeshift bunk bed and held the rose delicately in her hands.

"Are you okay? You look like you just swallowed a gallon of pond water," Yang said empathetically.

"I swear, if this is Jaune attempting to woo me again, I will freeze his manhood off so the Arc name stops with him!" Weiss grunted, drawing a laugh and a way-harder-than-it-should-have-been back slap from Yang.

"Go easy on the boy, will ya? He's about as dense as dust enhanced iron and about as smart too. If you don't respond to this flower, you'll be fine. Sweetheart Day is only one day of the year, so once today is done, you won't get any more roses. Not so bad, right?"

But in fact, the next day after classes, there was yet another white rose on Weiss' pillow. After angrily marching down the hall to JNPR's dorm and confronting Jaune, it became clear he was actually innocent in this, which only further confused Weiss.

"I just don't get it," she complained to Ruby that night as the team prepared for bed. "who is this person and why won't they make themselves known?"

"Well, uh, maybe they're just too nervous?" Ruby said, tightening the draw string on her flannel PJ pants. "You kinda give off an intimating vibe, Weiss."

"And what's _that_ supposed to mean?" asked the Heiress. Ruby's eyes went wide as she didn't mean to incur the wrath of the Ice Queen, but thankfully Blake was there to save the day.

"What Ruby is trying to say is that you have a very…strong personality, Weiss. People have seen how you rejected Jaune at every turn, so you can understand why someone would be reluctant to come out publicly." she said, her calm, stoic wisdom once again helping to deescalate a situation between Ruby and Weiss.

Weiss said nothing at first, merely added the rose on her dresser next to the first one and quietly climbed into bed.

"Well, whoever they are, I hope they at least appreciate me for who I am and not what my name is." Weiss said.

"Time will tell," Blake said warmly. Yang shut off the lights and soon every team had retired to their bed.

The next morning came and Weiss had a plan to catch her admirer in the act. She told no one, lest word get out and it would spoil her devious strategy. The way her schedule worked, as soon as she finished Field Survival with Professor Peach, she had an hour before she had to be at Weapon Maintenance 101 with Port. As soon as the bell rang signifying that Peach's class had ended, Weiss hurriedly made her way to the RWBY dorm and quietly snuck in. No rose yet on her pillow, which was perfect - it meant she wasn't too late! Clutching Myrtenaster tightly, she snuck into the dorm's bathroom, keeping the door open just a crack and she waited.

She lost track of the time and she was about to give up, when she heard the dorm room door creak open. Yang and Blake's beds were blocking part of her view, so she could only see the lower half of her admirer. The plaid skirt and black tights meant it was definitely a woman, something that surprised Weiss but didn't reject the prospect entirely. Sure enough, the mysterious figure placed another white rose on her pillow case and Weiss struck. Pouncing like a rattlesnake, she quickly cast a glyph at the subject's feet that hoisted them upside down and hung them in the air like meat a butcher shop.

"Ah-ha!" Weiss yelled triumphantly, bounding from behind the bunk beds. "I found you now-RUBY?! You're my admirer?!"

"Ahhh the blood is rushing to my head!" Ruby whined, desperately trying to keep her school uniform skirt from falling down. "Put me down!" Weiss waved her hand and with a loud OOMPH, Ruby fell on her back on the carpeted floor.

"It was you all along…" Weiss said half to herself and half to Ruby. Ruby somehow blushed even redder than her cloak and suddenly was unable to make eye contact.

"Okay, yes, it was me! I…I bought you the roses. I was going to leave a whole dozen, flower by flower, and then confess how I felt but I didn't think you'd sneak up on me like this." she said with a tinge of embarrassment. "I'm sorry if this makes you mad at me…"

"Well, better than you than Jaune, but…this does come as a surprise, Ruby. I had no idea you felt this way or that you even liked girls."

"I had no idea either! I mean, I knew I liked you, but liking girls? I don't know, I don't know what that makes me or anything, I just think you're super awesome and super pretty." Ruby stammered. "At first I just wanted to be friends and then as we spent more time together, I just… I don't know, thought you were just super nice and great and I can totally understand if this complicates things and-"

"Shhh." Weiss said, gently pressing a finger to Ruby's lips. "Stop. You're rambling."

"Sorry."

"As I was saying - it _is_ a bit of a surprise, but it's not necessarily an unwelcome one." Weiss said, gently placing her weapon back in it's carrying case.

"Well, you say I'm a dolt…"

"Yes and suddenly your attempts to win my approval make a lot more sense," Weiss mused.

"So…you're not mad?"

"No. I'd rather it be you than some walking hormonal disaster who only sees me as a Schnee ATM." Weiss snorted with disgust. "But let me ask you something…earlier you had mentioned you wanted to confess your feelings after you had given me a dozen roses. Then what would have happened?"

"Heh, well, assuming you didn't throw me across campus, I was going to ask if you wanted to go see a movie or grab a cheeseburger or something. Just us…gals. Teammates. F-friends."

Weiss sat down on the edge of her bed and pondered this for a minute. In a way, she felt rather silly being so blind as to what was an obvious crush from Ruby. What she had mistaken for a need for approval was an actual attempt at flirting and Weiss was completely caught off guard. Maybe she missed it because she's so used to power hungry socialites who only wanted a chance to run the SDC someday? Brain dead men filled with nepotism and wine. But here was this pure and honest soul who thought she was…pretty? Had anyone called her pretty? Sure, the suitors had called her 'breath taking', or 'gorgeous' or even 'beautiful', but pretty? That's a new one.

"You're quiet…" Ruby said cautiously, "you're not thinking of ways to kill me, are you?"

"This Friday, eight o'clock sharp. I'm taking you to one of the best restaurants in the kingdom, my treat. Afterwards, we can see one of those terrible monster movies you like so much." Weiss said plainly, like she was explaining a business plan and not an actual date.

"Wait…is this a date?" Ruby asked, her excitement starting to rumble.

"A casual one, but yes. I'm intrigued and we'll see where this goes." Weiss said, standing up and smoothing out her skirt. "Now if you excuse me, I'm going to be late for class if I don't leave now. Oh and Ruby, one more thing? Wear something cute. Please dress like an adult. No video game or comic book tee-shirts and leave the cloak at home. This is a very fancy restaurant we're going to."

"Uh, yes, fancy!" Ruby sputtered, her eyes wide with shock. "Th-thanks, Weiss! I'll see you there."

Weiss smiled and grabbed her book bag, slinging it over her shoulder and heading down the hall towards her classes. Ruby stood as still as a statue, trying to process all that happened when a sudden realization hit her like a sucker punch from an Ursa. Frantically, she fumbled through her own book bag till she found her Scroll and dialed the exact contact she had in mind.

"Coco? It's me, Ruby Rose. Listen…can you help me dress cute? I need a dress for this weekend…"


	27. Tell me again

"Wait, tell me again," Blake said after taking a small sip of her green tea. "because I'm not sure I heard you correctly." Weiss took a sip of her coffee but grimaced as it was still hot.

"No, you heard me correctly. She's currently in bed at the moment, rehabbing her back." Weiss said with a defeated sigh. It was a cozy Sunday afternoon at Weiss and Blake's favorite coffee house, Coco's Cocoa. It was a quaint little store that was run by their friend and former classmate, Coco Adel. Blake and Weiss would meet the last Sunday of the month for a get-together and to lovingly vent about their wives. Neither Yang nor Ruby were none the wiser about this meeting, Blake telling Yang it was a book club and Weiss telling Ruby it was a wine tasting event. Neither sister wanted to go, to say the least.

"Have you tried calling Jaune? Might help speed up the process a bit, if he's not too busy." Blake said, taking another sip of her tea. Weiss just smirked.

"That would be too easy for her. No, I want her to think about this and what lead to this result." Weiss giggled after a cautious sip. Coco made sure her coffee was the best, with some comparing her to the famous lizard Faunus chef, Gorgon Ramsay. Blake shook her head, knowing full well how stubborn and bull-headed Yang can be and thinking it must be something in their genes.

"But seriously, tell me again because I just find this story too incredible for words, even for Ruby," said Blake.

"Ha, if you insist. So about two weeks ago Ruby was training in our gym-"

"Your _private_ gym," Blake added.

"Yes, well, I converted Jacques' 'trophy room' into a gym when I moved in. All of those stuffed animals just staring at me with glassy, lifeless eyes. Creepy. But I digress, back to the subject at hand - Ruby was training in our gym on the treadmill, watching television at the same time. From what she tells me, it was one of those inane, plotless action flicks she likes so much."

"Oh, those movies!" Blake laughed. "Yang loves them too and can quote 'Try Hard' word for word. It doesn't matter what we're doing, if she sees it's on TV, she stops to watch it."

"I think they get it from their father, honestly." Weiss mused, now enjoying the more tolerable temperature coffee. "I've seen Tai's movie collection and these apples do not fall far from their tree. Anyway, Ruby was watching one of these flicks and she had the 'realization' that her hand to hand combat skills were lacking." Blake shook her head in disbelief.

"Which I don't understand why. She doesn't need it, she has Crescent Rose. She mastered that weapon before she even enrolled in Beacon all those years ago and she's only gotten better."

"Which is exactly what I told the Dolt, but no, she wouldn't listen. She wanted to focus more on her hand to hand combat skills so she contacted Ren to help train her in Jeet Kun Do. True to his word, he came to the manor to train her, but Ruby's patience is as short as her hair and she was getting frustrated as the day went on."

"I doubt Ren would be a bad teacher," observed Blake as the waitress topped her tea off from a vintage looking copper kettle.

"No, in fact, he was a wonderful teacher but as I said, Ruby's impulsiveness got the best of her, so she decided to try something more 'advanced'."

"I'm scared to think of what that would be…" Blake replied. Weiss just shook her head.

"You know those comic books she collects? She had purchased the latest issue of 'Atomic Swan-"

"_Nuclear Swan_." Blake corrected with a smirk, making Weiss blink in disbelief.

"You know this title?"

"I've seen posters for it at my local bookstore. Not much of a fan, but it's hard to miss. It's easily one of the more popular titles out there, Weiss." Blake said with a smug tea sip. Weiss was slightly taken aback by this revelation but pressed on anyway with her conversation.

"As I was saying, Ruby found an ad in the back of _Nuclear_ Swan for some ridiculous martial arts program called _The Seven Fists of Fury_ so she ordered it with express delivery. What actually came was this massive wooden crate with some bizarre-looking weapons and an instructional DVD." Weiss complained, nodding politely as another waitress filed up her cup with fresh Mistralian roast coffee. "And the worst part? She invited Nora to train with her." Blake nearly spit out her tea.

"Oh, gods, those two with some scammy martial arts course? I'm surprised the manor didn't burn down," she said in disbelief, her golden eyes wide with horror.

"I'm surprised it didn't, honestly. I had a chance to look over the pamphlet that came with it and it was advertised as a 'seven-day journey into deadly excellence' and each day they were supposed to master a different form of self-defense," Weiss explained, adding exactly one cream and one sugar to her coffee.

"Of course you'll have to tell me each day," Blake said leaning forward, becoming more and more invested in this story.

"The first day was merely a series of stretches, which the manual called 'Awakening the Dragon Within' or something to that extent. Nothing too exciting, but it was rather entertaining watching them try and bend themselves into disproportionate shapes. "

"You watched them?"

"Of course!" Weiss said with a laugh. "I wouldn't have missed this for the world. It was part morbid curiosity and part making sure those two sugar-infused knuckleheads didn't ruin anything priceless. But after the first day, they focused on striking with 'The Hornet's Nest of Fury' and it was a sight to behold. They spent hours punching the air and making yells and grunts to somehow 'increase their chi' but really it just made them sweaty and exhausted."

Blake chuckled at the mental image of Nora and Ruby furiously punching and kicking in the air with Weiss watching from the side with dark amusement.

"But you still haven't told me how Ruby hurt her back?" Blake queried.

"Yes, I suppose I better fast forward this a bit or else we'll be here all day talking about this. So the last day was supposed to be their graduation from the course and it had to be a full-contact sparring match. Both of them had agreed to use no Semblances nor weapons, so Magnhild and Crescent Rose were hung up on the walls."

"Did Nora hit Ruby too hard? Even without any Semblance, that girl has always been scary strong."

"Quite the opposite, actually," Weiss said, dipping a cinnamon biscotti in her coffee "nothing really happened at first, besides Nora trying out those ridiculous strikes that the training course had taught her. When she attempted some sort of open-palm thrusting lunge thing, Ruby tried to duck under the blow to avoid it."

"And did she?"

"A little too well. She tried to do some sort of knee slide thing to take Nora down from her ankles, but she sort of folded backward into this V shape and the heels of her boots touched her back."

"I didn't know she was that flexible…" Blake said with a grin but the double entendre missed Weiss entirely.

"She's not. She basically locked up in place and I had to help her to the bedroom to recover. With her aura and some rest, she'll be fine within the next few days." Weiss said, finishing off the last of her coffee with a dainty sip and pushing the empty cup to the edge of the table as a sign she was done.

"Amazing," Blake said. "Simply amazing. So what did you do with the martial arts kit?"

"Oh, I threw it away as soon as Nora left. I paid Ren for a full month of classes because I felt bad and told Ruby next time to stick with the professionals. Of which, that reminds me - I was supposed to pick Ruby up something to eat…" Weiss reached into her purse and produced her Scroll and dialed Ruby's number, casually fidgeting with a torn packet of 2SWEET4U zero-calorie artificial sweetener. "Ruby? How are you feeling, love? …good, good. Just stay in bed and only get up if you have to. Listen, I'm heading home and I can stop by to get you something to eat. What would you like? …Kingdom Fried Chicken? Sure, I can do that. ….what's that? …are you serious?! RUBY ROSE-SCHNEE! You are not to order a DVD that helps you train your psychic abilities! …WHY?! Because you have no psychic abilities, you Dolt! …I don't care what the commercial says, it's a scam!"

Blake just laughed, watching the spectacle unfold. Being married to these sisters meant never having a dull moment.


	28. This is why we can't have nice things

The mall in Vale was a sprawling labyrinth of retail goodness. Four floors of just about any kind of store you could imagine, ranging from weapons to dust, to clothing, to everything in between. Ruby had been here more times than she could remember, usually gawking over the expensive weapons and gear she could never afford, or drooling over the decadent sweets of the 'Sugar Rush' candy store. But this time was different as she was following Coco Adel to one of the more expensive clothing stores in the entire mall, a shop simply known as 'Chic'. Ruby knew next to nothing about fancy dress and with a date with Weiss coming up, she knew she had to dress to impress and who better to help than Beacon's own heavily armed fashionista?

"Thanks for doing this…" Ruby said, trying to keep up with the much taller Coco. Ruby often wondered how Weiss could fight in high heels and she was absolutely mystified how Coco could fight Grimm in stiletto heel boots.

"No problem, kid," Coco said with a smirk. "I normally charge for this but consider this a one hundred percent team leader discount. Besides, I always thought you and the Schnee girl would make a cute couple." Ruby blushed, her reflection coming back to her off of Coco's mirrored shades.

"Well, we're not a couple yet…this is just a date…to um, see how things go." she stammered. Coco's smirk widened as she stopped to lower her designer sunglasses, her chocolate brown eyes holding a mischievous glint.

"I know three things in this world better than anyone else: fashion, killing Grimm and women loving women. Trust me, this is going to work out," she said, pushing her shades back up with an index finger. Coco resumed her gallant stroll towards the store, Ruby close on her heels. Upon entering, Ruby was awestruck by the racks of clothing she couldn't even afford to look at. There were blouses, dresses (with and without pockets), boots, belts, gloves, everything that would make a woman look fabulous. Ruby could see why Coco liked it here so much. A young ram Faunus stood behind the counter, her hair the color of peaches and her eyes greener than grass.

"Coco!" the young ram Faunus said. "Haven't seen you in a while." Coco finally pulled off her shades, letting them hang off her fluffy black scarf.

"Venus!" Coco replied with a smile, embracing the saleswoman with a hug and a quick peck on the cheek. "Sorry I haven't been here, busy at the Academy and such. But I'm actually not here for myself, I'm here for my friend, Ruby. She has a hot date tomorrow night and needs our help. Money is no expense, this is all going on the platinum Schneesa card. Mama got paid for doing a little freelance Huntress work, but what the Academy doesn't know won't hurt them."

"Say no more!" Venus said, before grabbing a bright yellow tape measure and trying to push down Ruby's combat skirt to get better measurements. "Hmmm…short, petite, small to medium size breasts…this should be easy," she muttered to herself. "I'm guessing red and black are your favorite colors?"

Ruby's mouth went dry and she stammered a bit. Venus had gone straight to work and took measurements of every inch and curve of Ruby's body. She wasn't used to being touched like that, but there was a cool, professional manner in the way Venus did it that at least made Ruby feel like she wasn't getting groped by Cardin or something terrible like that.

"Hey, she asked you a question," Coco said with a laugh. "You look like she's trying to sell you car insurance."

"Oh! Right, sorry!" Ruby said with a nervous chuckle. "Yeah, red and black have always been my favorite colors. Ever since I was a little girl, I just thought they looked really cool together." Venus nodded wordlessly, tapping her bottom lip with a perfectly manicured finger with a blood-red painted nail.

"I see…wait here," she said and disappeared into the back. The store was empty, outside of Coco and Ruby, so there was a bit of awkward silence between the two team leaders.

"So, uh…you're doing freelance hunting?" Ruby finally asked. Coco shrugged.

"A bit, here and there. Usually on weekends. I design most of my own clothes and all of that fabric gets expensive. Plus, Gianduja needs to be maintained." Ruby blinked in confusion.

"Gee-en-wha?"

"My big gun," Coco said flatly. "The one my purse transforms into."

"OH!" Ruby said with excitement. "I had no idea that's what it was called. I figured it had a name like 'Sweet Tooth' or 'Caffeine' or 'Dark Roast' or something. So, uh, I wanted to ask you - is it awkward to date a teammate. I mean, assuming you are dating one. Not to pry or anything….I'm rambling, aren't I?"

Coco laughed and wiped a tear from her eye, straightening her beret in the mirror when she was done.

"You mean me and Velvet? Yeah, we've been dating for a few weeks now. But to answer your question, not really. CFVY is still CFVY regardless if I was single or not and Velvet can hold her own. Trust me, Miss Passive Resistance can throw down with the best of us, she just chooses not to with inbred idiots like Cardin and his merry band of repressed homosexuality. But you're asking cause you're worried about how RWBY will be if you and Weiss hit it off?"

"More or less…" Ruby admitted. "I just don't know what Blake and Yang would think as I feel like there's…what's the word I want to say…tension? Yeah, the tension between them."

Coco's face became serious as she rested a reassuring hand on Ruby's shoulder.

"Listen, Ruby. You should never feel ashamed of who you are. If all of RWBY ends up in a relationship, who cares? Love is love. Besides, you wouldn't be the only one. JNPR would be following in your footsteps, but Jaune is so blind even Fox can call him out on it." Ruby giggled at this, feeling the stress melt slowly but surely.

"Thanks, Coco. You really do know a lot about this kinda stuff."

"Sorry to interrupt!" Venus said as she came back to the main room "but I found the perfect dress for Ruby." Hanging off a hager was the most gorgeous dress Ruby had ever seen. It was a short, red, sleeveless dress with a thick black sash around the waist and black trim along the bottom. The bodice of the dress was split vertically to the sash and laced with black lacing and the yoke of the dress was a translucent mesh with an opaque collar and hem, as well as opaque lines connecting the collar to the shoulders. In short, it was amazing.

"See, this is why you're the best," Coco mused. "because Little Red here is going to turn a lot of heads when she wears this."

"Would you like to try it on?" Venus asked, barely having enough time to answer before the dress vanished from her hands in a poof of rose petals, leaving behind an empty hanger and a very confused saleswoman. "I forgot that since she's a Huntress she has those superpowers things you all do," she said with a sarcastic chuckle.

Inside the dressing room, Ruby frantically fiddled with her belt and corset, trying to take off her combat skirt as quick as possible. She carried so many pouches for spare ammo clips and it was a pain to remove, but soon the dress and tights were off, followed by her combat boots, leaving her in just her black strawberry print bra and panties. She had just unzipped the back of the dress when there was a knock on her dressing room door.

"Hey Ruby, you decent? Can I come in?" asked Coco.

"Decent at what?" Ruby earnestly replied. Ruby could hear Coco's sigh from the other side of the door.

"I mean, are you too naked for me to come in?"

"Oh, right. Uh, well, I'm in my underwear but just us girls, right?" Ruby replied. Coco cracked open the door and snuck in, careful not to reveal anything to the outside world. Inside, she stopped dead in her tracks and sized Ruby up and down.

"I knew you liked strawberries, but really?" she said, a hint of disgust in her voice. But Ruby was defensive about her choice in underwear.

"They're cute and comfy and they were on sale! I bought seven identical pairs so I only have to do laundry once a week!" she snapped back.

"Okay, when this is done, I am taking you to Dunkelman's Secret and we are completely revamping your underwear. But speaking of which, here - put this on when I step out." Coco replied and tossed Ruby a small plastic shopping bag. Opening it up, Ruby's face turned as red as her dress seeing the matching thong.

"This?!" Ruby exclaimed hoarsely. "This…this is naughty girl underwear. I…I can't wear this!" she said, but Coco just rolled her eyes.

"I'm not buying this for Weiss to take off of you, though if that happens you have me to thank, I bought this so your panty line doesn't show. You don't want a bunch of creeps staring at your butt, do you?" she asked. Ruby's jaw opened and closed several times before it snapped shut.

"I guess, but doesn't it feel weird?" Ruby asked, but Coco just shrugged.

"At first, but once you get used to it, anything else feels like boring granny panties. Trust me, you'll thank me later." Coco said, before blowing Ruby a playful kiss and stepping out of the dressing room. Time passed and Ruby came out of the dressing room, her face glowing like a freshly cut chunk of fire dust.

"H-how do I look?" she asked. Coco just whistled.

"Damn, girl. Making it hard for me to be faithful to Velvet," she said. Venus gave an enthusiastic thumbs-up, partly because she legitimately liked the dress on Ruby and partly because of the price that Coco said she would pay. "But the outfit is missing something," Coco added, gesturing towards Ruby's bare-stocking feet. "You need shoes."

"Oh, that's easy, I was just going to wear my boots!" Ruby replied cheerfully, causing the color to drain from Coco's face.

"Combat boots?! With that dress? Are you insane?! No, no, we're going to get you a nice set of pumps. I'm thinking black." said the fashionista.

"Inflatable shoes?" Ruby squealed, "that sounds so cool!" Venus gave Coco a confused look, but Coco merely shook her head and shrugged. Both ignored Ruby's confusion as Coco made her way to the shoe rack, carefully investigating box upon box of fancy footwear before finding the perfect pair of black pumps.

"Here, try these on," Coco said, handing the box to Ruby. But Ruby's silver eyes went wide with fear as if she had just seen a Grimm eat someone whole.

"Oh no, no, Lady Stilts and I do not get along. Please, Coco! Just let me wear my boots, I'll be so much more comfortable!" she pleased, but Coco was not swayed.

"No, you asked for my advice and now I'm giving it to you. Try these on and take a few steps, trust me," she said. Ruby sighed with irritation and sat down on a nearby bench in the store and slid the pumps on her feet. Taking a few steps, she felt like a baby deer she had seen back in Patch, the newborn taking a few shaky steps as it tried to work out its feet. But she was no deer and every step made it feel like she was walking on a wobbly bridge made of marbles as if any moment she would do a face plant and embarrass herself in front of Coco and her fancy friend. "You're doing good, kid, keep at it!" Coco encouraged. Feeling braver, Ruby took a few more steps and getting a bit of self-confidence, she began to quicken her pace.

This was a huge mistake.

She felt her inertia take over as she saw the ground rapidly approaching and in a blind moment of panic, she tried to halt her trip downwards by grabbing on to a nearby mannequin but the dummy was not bolted to its display and it too fell with her. Ruby hit the ground with an OOMPH and the mannequin went flying across the room, smacking into the shoe rack and collapsing the shelving, sending boxes of expensive shoes spilling out onto the freshly carpeted floor. The entire store was in chaos and a small crowd had gathered from outside to witness the fashionable carnage.

"…and this is why we can't have nice things," Coco said with a heavy sigh, handing Venus her credit card.


	29. I'm not going anywhere

Ruby Rose-Schnee felt the ice-crusted snow crunch under her boot. She winced a bit, as it was more sound than she wanted to make, so she shifted her weight for the next few steps to make as little noise as possible. Her fur-lined cloak's hood was pulled up to her head, Crescent Rose fully extended in her tightly gloved hands. Behind her walked her daughter, Osiria, clad in her own winter-proof cloak, though she kept her outfit white as the snow around her. Her preferred weapon, Thorn, was casually slung over her right shoulder. It was an elongated staff made of solid steel with a flat spade-like blade on one end and a smaller crescent-shaped blade on the other.

"Stop here," Ruby said softly, keeping her voice low. "look around, tell me what you see." Osiria inherited Weiss' crystalline blue eyes and she scanned the snow-covered surroundings for anything out of the ordinary.

"Hoofprints," she said, pointing towards some indentations in the snow. "Looks like Borbatusk, maybe a herd? At least three or four. They've been here recently as the snow hasn't covered them up entirely."

"That's my girl!" Ruby beamed with pride. "You're going to make an awesome Huntress," she said, giving her daughter a supportive pat on the back. Unlike her Moms who were of the shorter stature, Osiria took after her Aunt Yang and was tall for her age, standing at close to six feet at only seventeen years old. Her face had Weiss' eyes, but Ruby's cheekbones and chin, her hair blood red, but with shocks of white streaks running through it. 'Candy Cane Hair' is what Ruby called it and even Aunt Nora had nicknamed her 'Candy Cane.'

Both Mother and Daughter quietly followed the tracks till they came to a small clearing that had a frozen creek running through it. True enough, four adult Borbatusks were grunting along in the snow, using their razor-sharp tusks to dig through the icy frost to find any source of food they could get, be it grubs or grass or tiny bugs. Ruby pulled down her hood so nothing would obstruct her vision, and silently motioned for Osiria to kneel beside her.

"Think you can take the shot?" Ruby whispered. "Don't worry if you miss, I'm not going anywhere." Osiria nodded, her eyes focused on the largest of the Grimm. Wordlessly, she held up her left hand and focused her aura and tapped into her Semblance. A razor-sharp icicle, about three feet in length, formed from thin air. The tip was sharp enough to punch through Kevlar and Osiria had become quite proficient in throwing it. Carefully, she gauged her shot, mentally calculating for distance and wind resistance and hurled the deadly frozen dagger. It connected squarely in the side of the neck of the demonic beast, it's squealing laborious and tortured. It should have killed it silently, but a slight miscalculation on Osiria's part had wounded it, but not fatally. It's grunts and squeals alerted its brethren and soon the entire herd charged towards the mother and daughter Huntresses.

"Oh, grapes!" Osiria yelled, desperately trying to grab Thorn, but she never had the chance. A cloud of rose petals filled her vision as a red blur streaked across the clearing in the Atlesian woods. It was hard to detect the exact movements, but Osiria could see her Mother's weapon spin and twirl with brutal precision and within moments the entire pack had been dismembered, vanishing into thin air. Ruby flipped Crescent Rose back into Sniper mode and slug it on the magnetic clasp on her back, pulling her hood back up to block out the cold winds. "...I'm sorry, Mom," Osiria said with defeat, but Ruby smiled and put a reassuring hand on her daughter's shoulder.

"It's fine. It was a rough shot. It's awfully windy out."

"I know, but I should have taken that into consideration! At this rate, I'll never be a Huntress if I can keep messing up like that!"

"Hey now!" Ruby said warmly, "don't talk like that! You start Beacon tomorrow and I'm sure you'll do great!" But Osiria just sighed and plopped down on an old tree stump.

"There's so much pressure on me, Mom. You and Mother are legends! Team RWBY defeated Salem! You fought monsters and criminals and came away unscathed! How am I supposed to live up to that?"

Ruby smiled at her daughter and scooted next to her, both of them sharing the stump.

"You want to talk about stress? I enrolled in Beacon two years earlier than the standard admission. I was fifteen years old and scared out of my mind-"

"I know, I know," Osiria interrupted. "you've told me this story hundreds of times. You met Mother that day and she hated your guts because you almost blew her up and Aunt Yang ditched you in the courtyard. I get it, but you were also a prodigy! My grades are barely good enough to get in."

"But you still got in!" Ruby countered. "And this is precisely what an Academy is for - to hone and develop your skills as a Huntress. I know it sounds corny and dumb, but I know what it feels like to have a famous Mom. All I heard growing up were the tales of STRQ from Grandpa and Uncle Qrow. They told me Grandma was a legendary warrior, that she could shoot lightning from her silver eyes, that she was the best student in the history of Beacon. But you know what? She wasn't. And it's when I finally realized this that I felt like I could finally breathe, you know? I didn't have to be the next Summer Rose, I just had to be the best Ruby Rose! No one is asking you to be the second coming of me or your Mother, but we are asking you to be the most kicking butt Osiria Rose-Schnee you can be!"

"I can try, but you made it look so effortlessly just now," Osiria bitterly mused, but Ruby just chuckled.

"Sweetie, I've had over twenty years of experience. I didn't just pick up Crescent Rose one day and suddenly I'm a team leader. It took practice and that's all you need - practice."

"I hope you're right," Osiria said with a shiver. "Can we head back now? I'm cold and hungry."

"Sure thing, Lil' Petal. Maybe we can stop by Taco Fiesta Hut on the way home."

"Okay, first, I told you that nickname is so embarrassing and second, I thought Mother was making a casserole for dinner?"

Ruby shuddered, but not from the cold. As much as she loved her wife, Weiss' culinary abilities were lacking, to say the least. The idea of another 'Surprise Meat' casserole did not appeal to her in the slightest.

"We'll just tell her I forgot and bought us a Burrito Party Box instead. I could go for some Steak-n-Queso Grilla Dillas right about now..."

**THE NEXT DAY**

The airship made a safe landing on the air pad at the newly rebuild Beacon Academy. It had taken years to undo the damage done by the Grimm and even longer to drive all of them out. But through the painstaking process, the once majestic school had been rebuilt to its former glory. In fact, the only difference is the statue in the courtyard was now replaced with a large bronze dedication to Pyrrha Nikos.

Inside the airship, Osiria fiddled with the edge of her uniform skirt, nervously tugging on them and her black tights. Weiss gently slapped her daughter's hand out of the way.

"There will be none of that," Weiss reprimanded. "This is a big day and I will not be having my daughter presenting herself with wrinkly clothing."

"Sorry, Mother," Osiria said blushing, but Ruby was quick to the defense.

"Cut her some slack, babe. This is a big day for her, she has every right to be nervous," she said, rubbing Osiria's shoulder.

"I suppose I _may_ have acted too harshly, but you only get one first impression and that's it."

"Yeah, like Mom exploding?" Osiria giggled and now it was Ruby's turn to blush.

"Yes, well, if I had known that day the dolt who nearly killed me would be the dolt I would spend the rest of my life with, I would have accused you of huffing dust fumes. But I suppose we can never tell what life has in store for us, can we?" Weiss said.

"Hate to interrupt," the pilot yelled back from the cockpit, "but we're just waiting for clearance to unload. Please be patient with us for just a bit longer."

"Oh, uh, thanks!" Ruby yelled back. "You're doing a great job!"

"Was that really necessary?" Weiss said quietly, but Ruby just shrugged and grinned.

"Hey, it never hurts to give someone a compliment!" she said.

"So did you guys ever find out who the new Headmaster is?" Osiria asked. Ruby and Weiss stared at each other blankly, both women realizing they had never bothered to find out.

"You don't suppose it's another incarnation of Ozma or Ozpin, do you?" Ruby asked cautiously.

"I hope not. It was my understanding that his soul is finally at rest and last I heard, Oscar hadn't felt his presence for decades. I guess we'll find out. Hopefully, it's someone of the highest caliber, perhaps a famous retired Hunter or Huntress or an Atlesian general. I told Winter she should apply, but unfortunately, she didn't. Either way, I'm sure whoever is in charge now is the very best the world has to offer."

One of the attendants at the Academy opened the door of the airship, the hydraulics hissing as the loading ramp gently touched the landing pad. The new Headmaster was waiting outside and Ruby and Weiss instantly recognized him. The messy blonde hair, innocent blue eyes, the Pumpkin Pete logo tie...

"...or it could be Jaune," Weiss said with a heavy sigh.

"Actually, it's Professor Arc now!" he said, beaming with pride.

"Did they draw names out of a hat and the first thirty people weren't available?" Weiss half-teased. Jaune wanted to say something back, but cleared his throat and tried to stay professional.

"If you must know, I have full credentials as a licensed and trained Hunter, thank you very much," he said, his voice hiding a slight trace of smugness. "But enough about me, this is must be Osiria, yes?"

"Hello, sir," she said, giving a curtsey as Weiss had taught her. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Please, please, just call Professor Jaune! It sounds cool," he said, shaking her hand. "Come, let me introduce you to the rest of the students. I would suggest changing soon into your combat uniform as the team trials will begin shortly."

"No cliffs this time!" Weiss shouted as Jaune escorted Osiria towards the student body. Jaune just turned back around, grinned and give a thumbs up. "This school is going to burn down again with that fool in charge," Weiss muttered, but Ruby just wrapped her arms around her wife's waist and gave her a gentle smooch on the cheek.

"Everything is going to be fine, Snowflake! He's not the same Vomit Boy from all those years ago. He's a Hunter, through and through. He went through the same stuff we did and he survived. Osiria is in good hands," Ruby said reassuringly..

"I suppose so," Weiss admitted. "He still needs a better haircut though."


End file.
